The NSPCC has warned that children in residential homes are three times more likely to go missing than other youngsters as figures revealed that nearly 3,000 children repeatedly disappeared from care last year.

One child went missing on 67 occasions and West Yorkshire Police reported 222 incidents of its officers being asked to look for missing children, involving 126 children last year.

The figures for Bradford have not been revealed but those working in the district warned that the problem affects both girls and boys.

The NSPCC revealed that 7,885 teenagers and children vanished from care in England and Wales last year, with at least 2,959 going missing more than once, some 35 times.

About 40 per cent of the youngsters were aged 13 to 17, but some were as young as six.

The problem is taken so seriously that agencies in Bradford, including the police and other charities, now work at Eccleshill police station, Javelin House.

They include Barnardos, the Children Society’s Hand in Hand project and The BLAST Project, the UK’s leading male only sexual exploitation project.

Over half of all children entering care in the UK do so as a direct result of abuse or neglect.

Julie Jenkins, assistant director for Bradford Council childrens’ services, said: “We work closely with the police and make sure there is a return interview for each young person in care who’s been missing.

“Some of the ‘missing reports’ are in relation to young people staying out overnight – something that all teenagers can be prone to.”

Superintendent Vince Firth, of the Bradford District Safety Partnership, said: “We always aim to identify the issues which prompt any individual to go missing.

“The fact that each agency is co-located in the same building is also extremely beneficial, as it enables us to conduct daily meetings and make joint decisions.”

The joint working is something the NSPCC support, with Tom Rahilly, head of the NSPCC’s Looked After Children programme, adding: “Looked after children face a significant risk of harm, and those in residential care are three times more likely than other children to go missing, putting them at risk of harm such as sexual exploitation.”