Convicted sex offender and MP Trevor Woolridge would have been suspended pending an appeal by the British Labour Party, it was revealed yesterday.

A spokesman at Labour's London headquarters said any action against one of its MPs in similar circumstances would be a matter for the Parliamentary Party.

But he added: "I would think it's fairly clear -- that's not the sort of thing we would put up with.

"It's something they would take a very hard line on -- that would probably mean suspension.

"If it was a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party, that would most likely be the course of action.'' The Labour spokesman added: "With any form of impropriety, action has been seen very quickly -- not that we have had anything in that league.'' The UK Labour Party ended nearly two decades in the political wilderness with a landslide election in May under Tony Blair.

Labour swept to power in the wake of a series of scandals which rocked the Conservative Party.

Mr. Woolridge, now axed as pastor of the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopalian Church, was convicted by private prosecution earlier this month of groping a woman parishioner's breasts and exposing himself to her at her home in September last year.

The Shadow Community and Cultural Affairs Minister -- who pleaded not guilty -- was not sentenced pending an appeal against the conviction. A date has yet to be fixed for the Supreme Court appeal hearing.

Despite the decision by the AME Church's ruling body to kick him out of the pulpit, he remains within the Parliamentary PLP and retained his Shadow portfolio.

His victim -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- spoke out for the first time earlier this week and said the PLP should have followed the same course as the AME Church.

The PLP's handling of the affair also drew fire from the Island's most prominent women's rights group, the Women's Resource Centre, which hit out at the apparent lack of concern among PLP chiefs for the victim.

A spokeswoman said that by "negating the conviction'', Mr. Woolridge's supporters were "belittling and invalidating'' the women's distress.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith -- who recently attended the UK Labour Party conference in Brighton -- said that there had been a "concerted campaign'' to smear Mr. Woolridge's name.

And she added that "seemingly money had been made available'' for ex-Attorney General Saul Froomkin QC to mount the private prosecution.

A furious Mr. Froomkin -- who took the case free of charge -- has since threatened legal action against Ms Smith for libel unless he received an apology.

Ms Smith has already refused to comment on the Woolridge affair -- or on whether she would be apologising to Mr. Froomkin.

But yesterday, the PLP mounted a belated damage control exercise.

A party spokesman in a faxed statement said the party had "strenuously voiced'' its support for women's issues.

He attacked the Women's Resource Centre for interfering in politics and said the organisation had "publicly sought to chastise the PLP on a matter which is currently under appeal and before the courts''.

The party spokesman also accused the WRC of calling for the sacking of Mr.

Woolridge. The WRC has never suggested that course of action.

WRC executive director Jo-Ann Curnow said: "To be honest, all we were saying was that there should be some support for the victim.

"We certainly don't want to get into a political war of words because the politics of it has nothing to do with us.'' The party spokesman added: "Whatever internal decisions the party may arrive at concerning Trevor Woolridge's long-term political future are entirely separate from the outcome of his appeal.'' The statement added: "You must balance the interests of both parties and justice cannot be served by riding over one party's interests at the expense of the other party and prejudging the merits before there has been due process of law.'' Wade book advertisements pulled: Page 2