MORE than 3,500 missing children incidents have been reported across Worcestershire in just over five years – including nearly 600 cases involving youngsters in care.

A Freedom of Information request from your Worcester News has revealed the plight of missing children across the county, with each incident sparking costly police and social worker investigations.

The data has been slammed as "very worrying" by children's charity the NSPCC, which says missing children are at far greater risk of grooming, drug abuse, harm and sexual exploitation.

We can reveal:

- Since the 2009/10 financial year Worcestershire County Council has recorded 3,505 incidents of missing children

- At least 599 of those involved children in care, many of which were the same young people who vanished "multiple times"

- Of the total figure at least 18 reports involved babies from newborns to the age of two, 22 were aged 3-6, 51 were aged 7-10 and a staggering 1,092 were teenagers aged 15-17

- In all but one case the missing child was found safely, but many were not located for days on end, with the longest investigation being eight days and nine hours

It comes at a time when the county council is under huge pressure in its children's services department, with around 700 young people currently looked-after.

The data includes every missing child recorded by the council after a police alert, from those who run away to kidnapped babies.

Tom Rahilly, from the NSPCC, said: "When a child in care repeatedly goes missing they are placed in serious risk from harm including grooming or sexual exploitation.

"Children go missing for many reasons - they're being bullied, they've been put in a home miles from their family and they miss them and their friends, or they just don’t trust staff enough to tell them where they are.

"Many will have been abused before being placed in care and they need a lot of attention and protection.

"Going missing for just an hour or two can be long enough for them to come to harm."

The data runs from April 2009 to November 2014, with the council saying the figure of 599 missing 'children in care' incidents includes 209 individual young people, suggesting a vast majority vanished at least twice.

The figure of 599 missing children in care also only applies from 2011 to 2014, as the council says a detailed breakdown was not available prior to that, suggesting the true five-year picture of vanishing looked-after young people could be a far higher proportion of the 3,505 total.

It was not able to break down the ages of each missing children for the first two financial years, which is why the figures of 18 missing babies and toddlers, and all the other age categories are minimum figures.

A council spokesman said: "At the start of each (care) placement a risk assessment is undertaken if it is thought a child or young person may be at risk of going missing.

"This allows carers and residential workers to put strategies in place to reduce this risk.

"However if children in our care do go missing we always review the reasons why this has happened and use this information to improve how we support children and young people."

Bosses at County Hall say the specifics on children in care were relatively approximate figures.

Detective chief inspector Damian Pettit, from West Mercia Police, said: "Work is undertaken to identify the small proportion of children who persistently leave their home addresses without informing others where they are or their intended activities.

“Every missing person is consistently risk assessed and resourced to maximise the early, safe return of any child.

“West Mercia Police and Warwickshire Police have invested in a team of dedicated missing person coordinators who work closely with partners to address any missing episodes, undertaking longer-term problem solving in relation to the reasons that may cause a child to go missing .

“The vast majority of children who are reported missing are located safe and well in a short space of time.”