A COUNCILLOR who specialises in child care is facing calls for his resignation after he gave a character reference to a paedophile.

Coun Salim Mulla spoke up for a sex offender of the same name before he was jailed for three years for sexual assault and inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activities.

The 42-year-old defendant, of Ripon Street, Audley, Blackburn, led a secret life as a sexual predator, tricking girls as young as 12 into answering sordid questions over the telephone.

But before he was sentenced, Coun Mulla, who sits on the board of Audley and Queen's Park Children's Centre, gave a character reference to Preston Crown Court.

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Kate Hollern was so concerned about the reference that she called an emergency meeting with her fellow Labour councillor.

Leader of the opposition, Coun Colin Rigby, said he couldn't believe how "naive and stupid" Coun Mulla had been.

And he called on him to "seriously consider his position on various authorities and boards connected with children's services" within the borough.

But the Queen's Park councillor defended his actions and said that as he had known the car salesman for 35 years and had just told the court that from his dealings with him, that he had always come across as "not a bad lad."

The court heard that there had been several previous allegations of sex-pest phone calls against the defendant, a father-of-four, also called Salim Mulla.

But today Coun Mulla said: "I knew Salim Mulla who I must stress is no relation to me for 35 years and he has lived in my street for a long time.

"I saw him almost every day and as far as I could understand he was an upstanding and respected member of the community.

"When he approached me for a reference I agreed and could only write about my own personal knowledge of the man.

"I can only say what I personally saw and cannot get into the allegations that were against him.

"That is a matter for the police and the court.

"As a councillor I get asked for references all the time.

"I am an elected member of the council and the management board of the children's centre but I have a duty of care to the whole community as well as to children."

Coun for North Turton with Tockholes, Colin Rigby, said: "I cannot believe what he has done I think he has lost the plot.

"To give someone who has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting children a reference is madness.

"Someone who sits on the management board of a children's centre should not be giving references for a child sex offender."

Coun Maureen Bateson who oversees council children's services said: "The safety of children is paramount and as councillors, we all have a corporate parenting responsibility to every child in the borough.

"It is the children in this case who should be prioritised above all else."

Coun Hollern added: "He has explained his actions and given me a guarantee that he will be more careful about who he gives a reference to in the future."

A spokesman for the NSPCC said it would look into the matter and added: "We would hope that anyone in a power of responsibility would put the welfare of children first."

Audley and Queen's Park Children's Centre offers affordable childcare on a full or part-time basis. The child can develop and learn while being cared for in a safe environment.