Thousands of children run away from home every year in West Yorkshire but only a small minority are reported to the police as missing by their parents, according to a Children’s Society report released today.

An estimated 3,700 youngsters aged between 14 and 16 ran away from home in the county.

One child runs away from home or care every five minutes, with 84,000 under 16-year-olds running away overnight on at least one occasion every year in England.

Kevin Robinson, the senior practitioner for the Children’s Society in Bradford and Keighley, called for a more joined up approach by local authorities nationally to work together to help runaway children.

He said that services that helped the vulnerable, including Bradford’s service which helped keep teenagers on the street safe, were under threat because of cuts to funding.

See Tuesday's T&A for the full story