A FORMER Wiltshire police officer says thorough security checks are not being carried out on people who work with children.

As more details emerge about the mistakes which allowed child killer Ian Huntley to become a school caretaker, retired Wiltshire police inspector Bob Sawyer said organisations needed to do more to ensure the safety of children in their care.

Mr Sawyer said: "There are many organisations and groups in this region who should be doing checks and screening and are deliberately choosing not to."

Mr Sawyer, 56, who retired from the force five years ago and formed Swindon-based Assured Vetting with two colleagues, said there were clubs, leisure centres and other organisations which had taken a business decision based on cost not to screen some staff and volunteers who came into contact with children.

"Soham is just part of the story," he said. "The reality is that if you are sending your child to a karate club, a tennis club, a swimming club anywhere where people are having one to one sessions with your child, you are entitled to expect that that person has been properly vetted and screened."

While large organisations like the Scouts and Guides ran thorough checks and an internal vetting procedure, what he and his colleagues have discovered is that in many organisations, only those with the most direct contact with children have been put through the Criminal Records Bureau that looks at criminal records and police reports.

This, he said, was a mistake. Anyone who had any contact with children or vulnerable adults, from the woman who made the sandwiches for the youth team, to the person who drove the minibus, should be thoroughly vetted.

"We have done some vetting for sports clubs, but it is only CRB checks. That is the bare minimum they should be doing."

The Bureau was a hugely valuable resource, he said. "But it is not the be all and end all."

Checking a person's employment history and taking up character references were very important.

"It is an accepted belief that a high percentage of a person's CV is a lie. Why shouldn't employers make sure that the information is correct?"

He explained that people working in the security industry had to have a 10-year checkable work history.

If that was required for someone standing at the main gate of a factory, then it should be required for someone working with children.

"Organisations dealing with children and vulnerable adults have a high degree of responsibility for their care. They should do everything they can to protect them from people who would endanger them."

Ian Huntley, who was jailed for life on Wednesday for the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, worked as a school caretaker in Soham, despite accusations of rape, indecent assault and under-age sex.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has now announced an independent inquiry into how Huntley got his job at the school.

John Bilko, secretary of Croft Juniors youth football team, said they had recently been reviewing their checking procedures, but it was something they did regularly.

He said: "This is not a new problem.

"I think it is always going to be a danger."

He said they screened staff but because they had so many parent helpers they could not screen everyone.

They tried to make sure un-screened people were not left unsupervised with children.

Liden Community youth team secretary Julie Wood confirmed all the managers were screened, although other volunteer helpers were not.

But she said the club was very aware of the safety issue and had it's own child protection officer.

They too, were constantly reviewing their procedures.