Nearly 100 cases of children as young as 12 being sexually exploited are being investigated in Bradford, it has been revealed.

Today, a charity issued a strong warning about the risk of teenage runaways being physically harmed or lured into prostitution and drugs.

Barnardo’s Turnaround Service said it is dealing with 68 active cases of child sexual exploitation and 27 referrals of youngsters aged between 12 and 17.

They have dealt with youngsters as young as ten in the past and Turnaround’s Kay Kelly said that it was a problem in every city.

She said: “A government report said that if you think sexual exploitation isn’t an issue in your city, you are not looking hard enough.

“The effects on children can be life-long and they feel it is their fault. They can feel they have made the wrong choices but it is not their choice to be groomed.”

Another charity, the NSPCC, issued the warning about teenage runaways as police revealed they are investigating hundreds of cases of missing children in Bradford each year.

Figures, exclusively revealed to the Telegraph & Argus, show that 336 under-18s missing persons reports were filed in Bradford in 2009, 314 in 2010 and 217 in 2011.

Children’s charity, the NSPCC, said that running away put youngsters at great risk of physical harm or sexual exploitation.

A NSPCC spokesman said young people were most likely to run away between the ages of 13 and 15, with girls running away more often than boys.

“The majority of children who run away from home are found safe and well and are returned to their parents.

“However, running away can put some children at great risk of physical harm or sexual exploitation,” the spokesman added.

“In order to survive they may end up sleeping rough or staying with strangers, or they may have to resort to begging or stealing. In extreme cases a young person may enter into a long-term cycle of repetitive running away, leading to long-term homelessness and other problems, like becoming involved in prostitution or with drugs.”

A Freedom of Information request lodged by the Telegraph & Argus with West Yorkshire Police also found that 3,773 ‘missing from home’ reports for under-18s were recorded between 2009 up to December 12, 2011.

The figures quoted relate to the total number of reports and not the number of individuals going missing as some people go missing on more than one occasion.

The drop in Bradford figures last year is because of a change in the way missing persons are reported, said police.

Detective Inspector Granville Ward, of the Child and Public Protection Unit at West Yorkshire Police, said: “There will be acute cases of children subject to ongoing abuse and those children whose lifestyle and association means they are at risk of sexual exploitation.

“We recognise there is an issue of sexual exploitation of children across West Yorkshire and put a lot of work into addressing this across the county, including in the Bradford district.

“The Safeguarding Unit deals with this issue, along with domestic violence issues and forced marriages.”

Det Insp Granville said that, during 2011, 413 missing from home reports were formally recorded by the police in Bradford alone. “Of these 217 related to people under the age of 18,” he said.

“In addition, over the same period, 530 reports of a missing person were made to the police where officers attended the call but rapidly located the missing person before it was necessary to submit a formal report.

“Although there have been a number of well documented and tragic cases in West Yorkshire where people who have been reported missing to the police have subsequently been found after suffering a fatal accident or otherwise having lost their life, the overwhelming majority of people reported missing from home return safe and well.

Det Insp Ward said in 2011 there were 31 recorded instances where people were reported as missing after they had deliberately absented themselves from home in Bradford.

“Where it is established that someone has done this and is in fact safe and well, the police will respect that person's confidentiality,” he said.

Kay Kelly, of Barnardo’s which works with troubled youngsters, said that teenagers went missing because of a range of factors including conflict at home, potential abuse, parents divorcing, the responsibility of being a carer or because of mental health problems.

Those needing help can call the NSPCC Childline on 0800 1111.