LONDON, August 19, 2008 (AFP) - Shamed 1970s glam rocker Gary Glitter should not be allowed to leave Britain once he returns, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Tuesday as the convicted paedophile was kicked out of Vietnam.

Smith vowed the 64-year-old would be 'controlled' from the moment he sets foot on British soil, after the singer was freed from a Vietnamese jail and deported, having served nearly three years for child sex offences.

'We need to control him, and he will be, once he returns to this country,' Smith told talkSPORT radio.

She said Glitter, real name Paul Gadd, would be required to sign the sex offenders' register and notify the authorities if he wants to travel abroad.

'It certainly would be my view that with the sort of record that he's got, he shouldn't be travelling anywhere in the world,' she added.

'I want Gary Glitter to be controlled whilst he's here and I don't want him to be able to go anywhere else in the world in order to abuse children.'

The showman could also face an order prohibiting him from going near children or using the Internet, and may be monitored by police and the probation service, Home Office sources said.

The comments came as Glitter boarded a flight for Bangkok late Tuesday, hours after leaving prison.

Thai immigration officials told AFP that Glitter would only transit through Bangkok en route to London, although other reports have suggested he could decide to go elsewhere.

Glitter was the dazzling king of the glam era, characterised by performers in sequinned dress and extreme make-up. He sold more then 20 million records and had a string of hits like 'I'm The Leader Of The Gang (I Am)'.

But Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper said Tuesday he was a 'vile... sex tourist' and urged the authorities to ground him.

'Gary Glitter is an evil sex pervert who preys on children,' The Sun said in its editorial.

'Now, after serving time in Vietnam for attacking girls as young as 10, the shameless old has-been is on the prowl again.

'The authorities should... stop him travelling altogether -- by tearing up his passport.'

Doctor Zoe Hilton, policy advisor for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), said some of the most dangerous paedophiles drifted from country to country and hoped Glitter would be banned from foreign travel.

'Gary Glitter is a persistent offender responsible for a catalogue of sexual crimes against children,' she said.

'On his return to the UK, the authorities must assess the level of risk he poses to children and make sure he is carefully managed and supervised in the community to keep children safe from harm.'

She added: 'We are also concerned that current travel prevention orders, designed to prevent offenders from going overseas, are not working. Hardly any have been issued against sex offenders in the past five years.'

Meanwhile a leading anti-paedophile campaigner said more must be done to help the victims of sexual offences rebuild their lives so the crime does not 'define who they are.'

Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered by a paedophile in 2000, said Britain was 'very good' at providing notification orders for sexual offenders, but needed to improve victim support.

Glitter 'is one of many; his infamy just makes it highlighted,' she warned.