A BRAVE teenager who stood up to a child snatcher who tried to abduct her in the street has handed over The Press' petition calling for a change in the law.

Natalie Hick, 14, and her mum, June Hick, travelled to London to meet the Home Office's sexual crimes expert to tell him about our Change It! campaign.

About 2,000 people from all over the country signed our appeal to Home Secretary John Reid, asking him to close a legal loophole which means strangers who snatch children are not being monitored on their release from prison.

Matt Laxton, of the Home Office's Sexual Crime Reduction Team, received the petition, which will be handed over to Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker as part of the evidence used in a current review of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Mr Laxton, who is a senior advisor to the minister, said: "I will be speaking to Mr Coaker about The Press' campaign and the petition will be used to show public support for a change to be made to the current act.

"Schedules three and five of the act are currently under review and child abduction is one of the crimes that we are considering adding to schedule five.

"This would allow judges the discretion to make orders against defendants if there is evidence of a sexual motive."

Mr Laxton said that ministers would consider adding child abduction by strangers to the schedule, along with child abduction by a parent, to cover cases where the next of kin abducts a child to harm them.

The order will be presented to the House of Commons by Mr Coaker, who is the minister in charge of investigating the law regarding sexual offending, and backed up by a statement from him about the proposals.

Mr Laxton said minsters in the Home Office would review all the information about the campaign, including articles printed in The Press, before deciding whether to add child abduction and attempted child abduction to the order being put to Parliament.

It is thought any order would have cross party support and that it is unlikely MPs will make objections - but Mr Coaker will speak in The Commons to defend proposals if that does happen.

Mrs Hick said: "I'm glad that we've seen this through and finally handed over the petition. It has been a long year but if what happened to Natalie can bring about a change in the law and try to prevent other children being harmed, then it has all been worth it."

She said: "It is a shame that Terry Delaney who tried to abduct Natalie will not be monitored when he is released from prison and we just hope this loophole is closed so that in future offenders like him can be on the Sex Offenders' Register and banned from working with children.

"The petition has been signed by so many people and we've had a lot of support from the charity Phoenix Survivors in this campaign, so we really hope the minister accepts the evidence presented to him and changes the law."

Our petition has been signed by people from all walks of life, ranging from Sara Payne, mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne, who was abducted by Roy Whiting, and abuse victim Shy Keenan, chief advocates of Phoenix Survivors to Kevin Booth, editor of The Press.

Change It! timeline

* April 26, 2006 - Terry Delaney is jailed for four years after trying to kidnap a girl at a bus stop. However, Delaney cannot be registered as a sex offender because the offence is not covered by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Judge Paul Hoffman says the law "makes no sense".

* April 27 - We launch our Change It! campaign, calling on the Government to close that legal loophole. We win the backing of Sara Payne - one of the nation's most recognisable campaigners against paedophiles.

* April 29 - Home Secretary Charles Clarke agrees to look into our demands.

* May 4 - York MP Hugh Bayley backs our campaign, and writes to Mr Clarke.

* May 5 - Courageous Natalie Hick, Delaney's would-be victim, waives her right to anonymity to back our campaign. We launch a petition calling Mr Clarke to create a new law of stranger abduction listed under the Sexual Offences Act.

* May - Head teachers across North Yorkshire lend their weight to the campaign, as does top police officer DI Jon Reed, of York CID and York's young person's champion, councillor Dave Scott.

* May 24 - Home Office minister Vernon Coaker writes to Mr Bayley saying he is "looking at issue in detail".

* June 4 - 400 people sign our Change It! petition on the streets of York.

* July 18 - Another letter to Mr Bayley confirms our plea will receive "sympathetic consideration" in a forthcoming review of legislation.

* August 22 - Delaney's appeal against his sentence dismissed.

* September 5 - In an exclusive interview, PM Tony Blair promises an announcement on our Change It! campaign later this year.

* October 27 - The Home Office minister in charge of the review into sexual offences given all the information from our campaign.

* November 11 - Tory leader David Cameron also backs our campaign.

* November 13 - Natalie Hick and her mum June join The Press in London to hand over our petition.