A KEIGHLEY woman campaigning for a public inquiry into the sexual grooming of children locally has welcomed a change in the law to assist in the fight against paedophiles.

Ingrow mum Angela Sinfield said measures outlined by the Government last Monday (March 20), which from April 3 make it an offence for adults to groom children by sending them sexual messages, are "fantastic news".

But she added the length of time it has taken to make these measure enforceable are symptomatic of how difficult it is for campaigners to achieve the changes necessary to protect children.

"When you're campaigning against something related to sexual crimes against children you have to fight for a long time until people start grasping what you're saying and grasping the enormity of the problem," she added.

The new law confirmed by the Government last week had been on the statute books for over two years following a campaign by the NSPCC.

But police were unable to arrest paedophiles and groomers for sending these revolting sexual messages to children as the offence has not been in force.

NSPCC CEO Peter Wanless said: "We thank the Justice Secretary for doing the right thing. This is a victory for the 50,000 people who supported the NSPCC's Flaw in the Law campaign. It's a victory for common sense.

"This law will give police in England and Wales the powers they need to protect children from online grooming."

Mrs Sinfield, who is leading a campaign called ACT Now (Against Child Sexual Exploitation Today), said very young children have unmonitored access to Smart Phones and social media, making them even more vulnerable to sexual predators.

Keighley town councillor Michael Westerman said that while the change in the law was a positive move, it had come very late in the day.

"The Government has sat on this for two years," he said. "Shame on them for not rushing it through. They can rush other things through, so why not this?"

He questioned how the new law would be policed, given that children being groomed via sexual messages often don't appreciate that they are victims.