The disappeared of Middle England

Thousands of vulnerable missing children in Britain could be found and helped if the Government would set up a national missing persons register, it was claimed yesterday.

The claim was highlighted by an investigation into one local authority social services department which revealed that one in six children who were supposed to be in care in Britain could be missing and their files lost.

Mislaid files, lack of follow-up care, and children who have effectively "disappeared" are listed in an independent report into Gloucestershire social services, leaked to the BBC. The investigation was commissioned after the discovery of the victims of serial killers, Fred and Rosemary West.

The report says that 100 people went missing in the area over two decades and reveals that 390 council files on children in care are missing. The authors of the report, the Bridge Consultancy, believe the situation to be similar all over the country.

Although Gloucestershire social services were yesterday unofficially claiming the report was only a draft, and that the situation had since improved, the lack of nationally held comprehensive data on "missing" people was criticised by leading children's organisations.

Tens of thousands of people are missing in Britain but there are no plans to change the situation as the millennium approaches.

The vacuum of information, according to one child campaigner, means "thousands falling through the net".

Although the UK's various police authorities hold their own list of those reported missing, police computers do not communicate with each other. The main police database on missing persons is held at Scotland Yard. But other forces throughout in England and Wales, and in Scotland, cannot access Scotland Yard's list.

Social services and other statutory authorities must inform police of known missing persons. But officially reported people may only be the tip of Britain's "missing" iceberg.

Families wishing to avoid police involvement, can confidentially inform the National Missing Person Helpline (NMPH) . The charity compiles the National Missing Persons Register, currently holding 14,000 names.

Yesterday, both the NMPH and leading children's charities called on the Government to take immediate action in the wake of the Gloucester fiasco to establish an independent and comprehensive missing persons database.

Co-founder of the NMPH, Mary Aspery, said : "Not all parents report missing persons to the police. If parents fear their problem children may be involved with the police, they often come to us. Some go to no one because it is the family that is the source of the trouble."

Ian Sparks, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "A comprehensive national missing persons register is essential for measuring the scale of the problem and determining what services are offered."

Bob Lewis, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, said that although he was concerned by the report's findings, he did not believe the situation in Gloucestershire was repeated across Britain. "I am disappointed if the files have vanished but surprised if that mirrors the situation through the whole of the country."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Simon Hughes called on local authorities to reveal how many children in their care had gone missing.

"Just two weeks ago, an NSPCC inquiry set out the alarming level of abuse of young people throughout the country," he said. "Now there is evidence that there may be thousands of young people who leave care without anyone in authority knowing where they have gone."

Gloucestershire county council and Gloucestershire police refused to comment on the draft report, saying they would wait until it was officially published next week. However, yesterday the council was considering postponing the publication.