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The government-appointed children's commissioner rounded on Home Secretary John Reid yesterday over moves to inform parents about paedophiles living in their area, saying any attempt to introduce the law would be entirely counterproductive. Sir Al Aynsley-Green, who was appointed last year to provide a powerful national voice for young people, warned that the proposal could provoke vigilante attacks on the homes of discharged sex offenders - and could lead to more children being abused.Mr Reid said at the weekend that he was prepared to consider importing a version of "Megan's law", the US legislation that provides parents with information about paedophiles released from prison into accommodation in their area. In an apparent concession to tabloid pressure, he said he was sending Gerry Sutcliffe, a junior minister, to investigate how the law has worked in the US since it was introduced in 1997. The office of the children's commissioner issued a statement yesterday in the name of its director of policy and research, Claire Phillips. "Introducing a version of 'Megan's law' in the UK would do nothing to help parents keep their children safe from sex offenders," she said. "In fact, it could increase the risk of sexual abuse from strangers as offenders could be forced 'underground' after being released into the community, making it more difficult for authorities to monitor them. And it could encourage vigilante activity within communities. "We are concerned that a version of Megan's law could detract from the fact that children are most at risk from people known to them. We would prefer to see more efforts directed in this area with further emphasis on early therapeutic treatment for the victims of sexual abuse." The office of children's commissioner was set up in England last year after pressure from children's charities during an inquiry into the murder of Victoria Climbié, an eight-year-old from Ivory Coast who was starved and tortured by her carers in a north London flat. Ms Phillips said last night: "We are not challenging government policy. We are pointing out that this is not the way to go ... We don't think it would stop children being abused. It would make it far more difficult to monitor sex offenders closely when they are released from jail." Yesterday the Home Office revealed that nearly 30,000 registered sex offenders were living across England and Wales and that more than 95% of offenders were complying with the registration system. Megan's law was introduced in the US after the murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka in July 1994 by a known paedophile, Jesse Timmendequas. Mr Reid's decision to announce that he was thinking of importing it followed a campaign by the News of the World for the introduction of "Sarah's law" named after eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was abducted and murdered in 2000. The paper wanted the government to name and shame paedophiles and publish the addresses of the 101 probation hostels housing offenders. Yesterday Mr Reid denied his investigation of Megan's Law was driven by the News of the World. He said his interest in child sex abuse stretched back to 1989 when he was deputy to Joan Lestor when she was Labour's first frontbench spokesperson on children. Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, is supporting Mr Reid's initiative, but when she was minister for prisons and probation in 2003 she said adoption of Megan's law would drive registered sex offenders underground.