Police last night said they were confident no registered sex offenders were working in Sussex schools.

The assurance came amid revelations at least ten adults on the register had been allowed to work with children in England.

Detective Superintendent Alan Ladley said: "We have a good monitoring system in Sussex and although nothing is fool-proof, no one on the register is working in schools in the county to the best of my knowledge."

Mr Ladley, who led the investigation into the murder of Sarah Payne, was commenting as pressure increased on Education Secretary Ruth Kelly to apologise over her judgement.

Ms Kelly is said to be planning to rush through laws to tighten up restrictions on sex offenders working in schools.

She apparently backed the appointment of a PE teacher who had a police caution for accessing child porn.

She has ordered a review into what she says are a "small number" of similar cases and she told the Commons new laws proposed after the Soham murders would now be debated by MPs next month.

She said the Government had "tightened" List 99, the education departments blacklist, in recent years, making it more difficult for individuals of concern to get jobs in schools.