PLANS to house a convicted sex offender in an old people's home have been scrapped following complaints from the residents.

Reginald Jarrett was due to have moved into the sheltered accommodation when freed from his latest prison sentence.

But the decision sparked outrage among other pensioners in the accommodation, many of whom are regularly visited by their grandchildren.

Jarrett, 76, was jailed in April for two-and-a-half years for breaching a sex offenders' order, imposed in 1999.

He stood trial at Maidstone Crown Court and despite the 30-month sentence, has only served three months of it because of the time he spent in police custody awaiting trial. He has been described by Det Con Bernie Flintoff, who led the case when Jarrett was jailed, as "Medway's most persistent sex offender" and a "menace".