More than 43 children have been added to Bradford's child protection register since April.

The list grew by an average of five children a week between the end of April and the end of June.

The latest figures show a total of 275 children on the list of those at risk of serious harm and in need of safeguarding, compared with 232 in April.

The statistics were being reported to Bradford Council's social care improvement committee at City Hall last night.

Almost half of those children, more than 42 per cent, are there because of neglect - the single biggest reason children appear on the register.

A total of 24 children on the list have been physically abused. Sexual abuse, and emotional abuse combined with neglect each account for 23 of the children.

Domestic violence was involved in 52 of the cases and substance abuse by one or other of the parents was a factor in 21 cases.

Children on the list are not looked after by the local authority, and usually live with their parents or other relatives.

But a social worker draws up a plan with the family to ensure the child is kept safe.

Between March and June the number of children in care also rose by nine to stand at 855 - 483 boys and 372 girls.

The number of children social services worked with in total also rose sharply with around 808 referrals per month. In recent years the average has ranged between 688 and 759 per month.

Social workers believe the increase may be due to better public awareness of the services being offered by the authority.

A children's services spokesman said of the increase in numbers on the child protection register: "The number of children on the register is never static and can appear to increase quite sharply if, for example, several children from one family are placed on the register at the same time.

"However, the current level of registrations is not high for the district. For example, in September 2003 there were 305 children on the register."

Councillor Amir Hussain (Lab, Toller), chairman of the social care improvement committee, said he wanted to know why the number of children on the protection register had risen so sharply over the last few months.