By dom howell

CRIMINALS, including paedophiles, could be setting up as private detectives, fears a Notts investigator calling on the Government to do more to regulate his industry.

Alan McLean’s fears over a current lack of regulation have been backed by the official body in charge of accreditation, the Association of British Investigators (ABI).

Mr McLean, 44, said: “At the moment there is nothing to stop a paedophile paying for an advert and pitching himself as a private investigator.

“What I am asking for is some sort of Government body that could regulate the industry and get rid of the cowboys and the fakes.”

Currently, private investigators can be accredited by the (ABI) but it is left to this organisation to self-regulate its members.

ABI general secretary Eric Shelmerdine agreed that the Government should regulate this line of work.

He said: “Currently someone can come out of jail and then set up as a private investigator and this needs to be changed.”

Mr McLean’s company AIC Legal Services is accredited to the ABI.

He works with his business partner Dale Evans at their base in Netherfield.

Mr McLean said: “For all the good work that we do, our reputation gets shattered by those who have no qualifications at all, and who rip people off.

“The state of affairs at the moment is a shambles.”

This is not the first time calls have been made to bring in tough regulation of the industry.

A consultation was held by ministers in 2007 to look into whether the Security Industry Association could regulate the industry but nothing was ever acted upon.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The private security industry has matured in the six years since Security Industry Authority regulation began in England and Wales.

“The Government believes the time is now right to make a phased transition to a new regulatory regime, registering businesses that have met a comprehensive set of conditions.

“The regulation of private investigators is being considered as part of this process.”

Mr McLean’s company deals with a variety of issues, including benefit fraud, surveillance and unfaithful partners.

His company can also offer a lie detector service.

He said that he received a surprising number of calls from men asking if he can rig lie tests to give the wrong answer – to which his answer is always ‘no’.

He added that in his work with unfaithful partners, 80 per cent of his clients are men worried their wives may be cheating.

“Ten years ago it was always women coming to me asking me to check up on their boyfriends or husbands,” he said.

“It’s like men have become more paranoid.”

For any other details contact AIC Legal Services Ltd 0800 668 1877