Young girls reported missing from home will be targeted in a unique scheme which aims to prevent them being led into prostitution.

A pilot project in Keighley revealed 52 girls under the age of 16 were reported missing in a year - the youngest only 11-years-old.

And workers at the charity Barnardos, who visited each girl when she returned home, believe the fact that a girl goes missing is a warning sign that she could be being lured into prostitution.

The Bradford-wide project will start in September and be run by Barnardos, which is also responsible for the city's pioneering Streets and Lanes project, working with prostitutes.

Millie Cummings, project leader, said four or five of the girls in Keighley - who had an average age of 14 - were already being exploited.

Usually it was men the girls considered to be their boyfriends who led them into prostitution.

"It's very difficult for young women if they have someone who's showering them with gifts. He's a loving, caring boyfriend for a while, but it gets to a stage where other things are introduced," she said.

"The reason why the scheme has been extended is because the Keighley initiative was so successful, which is worrying in some ways because it means there are large numbers."

Funding for three years to employ the scheme's three workers will come from the Department of Health and Barnardos, with Bradford Council's social services providing office space. Millie said the scheme will be known as the Bradford Young Women's Initiative.

Barnardos estimates that, based on the Keighley numbers, there are about 250 girls and young women missing in the Bradford area - four out of five of them missing from their family homes.

Police in the Bradford area's five divisions will provide information about girls and any who are a particular cause for concern will be highlighted at Streets and Lanes, so prostitutes who visit the project can look out for them on the streets.

Missing girls will be visited by the scheme's staff within 24 hours of their return home, with workers highlighting the dangers and their vulnerability and finding out whether they are at risk of being lured into prostitution.

"Most of the young women visited didn't have an awareness of what was happening locally," said Millie.

The pilot project was set up after workers at the Bradford-based Streets and Lanes noticed young prostitutes were often girls missing from home - 38 of the present 45 project users have been reported missing at some point, making a missing from home an early warning sign of potential problems.

Not all girls who go missing get involved in prostitution, said Millie, but parents welcomed the scheme because they often receive no help or advice after their daughters' return.

In the first year, the number of boys who go missing will also be monitored to see whether the initiative should be extended to young men.

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