CHILD grooming offences have more than doubled in the region since last year.

Home Office figures issued by the Office for National Statistics showed there were 48 grooming offences in West Mercia recorded in the year up to June.

This represents a huge rise from 22 offences in the year before.

Detective superintendent Richard Long, from West Mercia Police, said: "We have a dedicated team of specialist officers in place tackling child sexual exploitation (CSE) targeting those who offend on and offline, this includes those who use the internet to groom, trawling social media and gaming sites looking for people to target and exploit and those who download and share indecent images of children.

"We are committed to protecting children who may be at risk and we work closely with partner agencies to reduce these risks, protect them from further harm and bring perpetrators to justice. The increase in crimes recorded shows that the signs of CSE are being recognised. We continue to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation through the multi-agency communications campaign www.tell-someone.org "

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: "This is an enormous rise in recorded grooming offences over such a short period, and the fact that records of grooming offences have increased substantially more than most other crimes shows the need for urgent action.

"More young people are speaking up about sexual grooming, and it’s vital that now, more than ever, police are given the training and the resources to tackle this issue.

"Groomers need to be stopped before they go to meet their victim, and following the NSPCC’s Flaw in the Law campaign police now have the tools they need to intervene before abuse escalates.

"We all have a part to play in keeping children safe online.

"The NSPCC’s Net Aware website has useful tools for parents about popular new websites, how to set up privacy controls and how to talk to children about online safety."

Grooming offences against children have risen an alarming 64 per cent across England and Wales in the last year.

There were 1,771 grooming offences recorded in the year to June, up from 1,080 in the previous year.

Sexual Grooming was one of the most-increased recorded offences over that period.

From April this year a new offence making it illegal to send a sexual message to a child came into force after a two-year delay, following the NSPCC’s Flaw in the Law campaign.

The recorded grooming offences also include the crime of Meeting After Grooming, which former England Footballer Adam Johnson was convicted of after meeting a 15-year-old fan, with whom he had exchanged sexual messages on WhatsApp.

Young people affected by grooming can contact Childline on 0800 11 11.