CONVICTED child sex abuser Trevor Mellis was out and about in Otley - just 24 hours after a judge accepted he was too ill to go to prison.

Former dentist, Mellis, 80, of Newstead Road, was photographed driving through busy traffic in Otley town centre and doing his shopping at Safeways.

He was seen making difficult maneouvres on his scooter, travelling at speeds of up to 40 mph, and visiting the police station and the post office.

Following his sentence last week one of his victims, who cannot be named, said she could not believe Mellis had been cleared to return home when she claimed her life had been ruined.

A spokeswoman for Safeways said staff at the store were fully aware of Mellis - who is believed to be a regular at the store - and were monitoring the situation.

"We are aware of the situation and are monitoring it very closely. As yet we have received no complaints from customers or anyone in the town."

Mellis, who was vice president of the Hazel Ascot Appreciation Society - a society set up to honour a British child film star but then hijacked by paedophiles - was given a two year suspended sentence at the Old Bailey last week for taking and distributing indecent photographs of children.

A four further charges of indecent assault were not proceeded with.

Despite a record of child abuse going back to 1964, Mellis has never served a prison sentence.

Police believe the paedophile ring he was part of abused hundreds of children over many years.

The other three members of the ring were given between three to six years in prison.

The Old Bailey heard Mellis suffered depression, anxiety and cardiac problems and had already tried to take his own life.

Judge David Paget gave him a suspended sentence because the offences were 20 years old and he suffered poor mental and physical health.