PARENTS have welcomed a decision to move a convicted paedophile from their estate after staging a street protest.

Residents of the Peel Brow estate in Ramsbottom spent nearly two hours outside a property in Beechwood Avenue, where they claimed a man, jailed seven years ago for having sex with a 15-year-old, was living.

The property, managed by Six Town Housing, is near Peel Brow School and nursery in Fir Street, and parents in the area say their children have to walk past the house to get to school.

Bury Council, responsible for allocating tenants, would not confirm whether the man was the registered tenant at the address or if he was staying as a lodger.

Emergency services, council officers and Six Town Housing staff were present at the demonstration, which passed off peacefully.

The man was subsequently moved out of the house and it was boarded up.

The protest was organised by Paul Honey, a parent with four daughters who lives on the Peel Brow Estate and who went from house-to-house collecting signatures.

Another of the parents involved in the protest was mum-of-three Janine Holt, who welcomed the decision to move the man.

She said: “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, him living there, but it is a good result.

“The whole estate found out he was living there on Friday and by Monday he had gone.”

The 33-year-old man is believed to have been living at the property for approximately three months.

Ms Holt, whose 10-year-old daughter is a pupil at Peel Brow School, said when she first found out she was “absolutely disgusted”.

She added: “My daughter has to walk past that property every day to school, and it backs on to the playground.

“We were all ready to stop our kids going to school until he had gone.

“Since we found out we have not allowed our children to play out in the street.”

Another parent, Becci Mills, aged 33, who also has a five-year-old who goes to Peel Brow School, said: “It’s really scary as parents.

“I just can’t believe that they put him on this estate, with kids and especially near the school.

“We have all stuck together and we have got what we wanted.”

Six Town Housing said it only manages properties, and that Bury Council is responsible for where residents are placed.

A council spokesman said: “We can confirm that the family living at this address have been moved out into temporary accommodation and we will be looking at options to rehouse them.

“We are working with a range of partners to ensure the safety of the family and the community.”