WEST Yorkshire’s top police officer has insisted the use of cautions to deal with offences against children was not a “soft option”.

Shipley Conservative candidate Philip Davies wrote to West Yorkshire Police to seek answers after Ministry of Justice figures revealed some offenders who admitted sexual activity with children were being dealt with by police caution.

The statistics showed that 26 people were given cautions by West Yorkshire Police between 2009 and 2013 after admitting sexual activity with a child under the age of 13.

Mr Davies had described the use of cautions in such cases as a “slap on the wrist.”

West Yorkshire’s temporary Chief Constable, Dee Collins, has written back to Mr Davies, stating: “I fully appreciate that the use of cautions in this way may be a very emotive issue for victims and the wider community and this forms an integral part of the decision making process.

“I would further seek to reassure you that a caution for an offence of this nature should not be seen as a soft option.”