Vulnerable children and adults are reported to safeguarding services on average 700 times a day by police in London.

Figures obtained by The Guardian newspaper under a freedom of information request show that 1.3 million records were created under Scotland yard's Merlin system in the five years to the end of 2018.

The system is used to record information about vulnerable or missing children and adults and those with mental health issues. That information can then be shared with other agencies such as social services and the NHS.

More than a third of the cases noted - 472,307 - related to child care and welfare.

The figures also show 138,551 records related to domestic violence, and 87,980 on missing persons.


Concerns over child sexual exploitation, forced marriage and other offences such as female genital mutilation are also noted.

In a statement the Metropolitan Police said: "The number of records created over the last five years is indicative of how seriously police take these matters.

"The Met will continue to create reports for any incident where a person may be at risk, or poses a risk to themselves or others, regardless of the situation."

The release of the figures comes at a time when council children's services are struggling to cope with reduced funding.

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In February a study by a group of leading children's charities found that since 2010 budgets had fallen by a third.

Eight of the top 10 councils with the biggest funding cuts were in London, with Westminster's slashing of funding per child the worst in the country - down 52% between 2010 and 2018.

Responding to the safeguarding figures Almudena Lara, head of policy at the NSPCC, told The Guardian that funding had to be made available to protect those at risk.

She said: "Many of these children could have been previously invisible to local children's services so it is a valuable tool. But if there aren't the resources in place to deal with these referrals, the children will just disappear back under the radar.

"The government needs to ensure local authorities are properly resourced so they are able to step in and support these children whenever and wherever they need it."