Increased social media use led to child grooming offences shooting up by 51 per cent in the past year.

The Leicestershire figure is way above the national average of 36 per cent and the NSPCC is calling for action to make youngsters safer online by tougher regulations.

Across England and Wales there were 4,373 offences of sexual communication with a child in the 12 months up to April of this year. Of those, 89 were recorded by Leicestershire Police, which was up from 59 the previous year.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “It’s now clearer than ever that the government has no time to lose in getting tough on these tech firms.

“Despite the huge amount of pressure that social networks have come under to put basic protections in place, children are being groomed and abused on their platforms every single day.

The NSPCC figures show that:

One in five victims were under 12

The number of cases involving Instagram has doubled in a year and made up about a quarter of incidents

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat were used in 62 per cent of Leicestershire cases

“These figures are yet more evidence that social networks simply won’t act unless they are forced to by law. The Government needs to stand firm and bring in regulation without delay.”

He said the Government was expected to publish a draft Online Harms Bill early next year, following the NSPCC’s Wild West Web campaign.

The proposals would introduce independent regulation of social networks, with tough sanctions if they fail to keep children safe on their platforms.

Convictions in the past year in Leicester included a musician who befriended two girls aged 11 and 13 and took them out for the night, leading to a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for child abduction.

Charnjit Singh (28), of Wavertree Drive, Belgrave, Leicester, met the youngsters through Instagram.

Charnjit Singh
Charnjit Singh

The sentencing judge at Leicester Crown Court, Robert Brown, said: "This case raises obvious concern that you had a sexual motive from abducting these two young girls."

Another man, jailed last summer, posed as a girl to get children to send him naked pictures of themselves.

Henri Pinney (22), of Wynfield Road, Western Park, Leicester, was jailed for eight years over the offences, for which he used a fake Facebook profile.

Henri Michael Pinney
Henri Michael Pinney

Grooming children online became an offence in itself in April 2017 following an NSPCC campaign.

A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said an increase in reporting was believed to be behind the increase.

She said: “We have seen an increase in the reporting of offences of sexual communication with a child.

“We believe this is due to an increased confidence in victims coming forward and reporting such matters to police.

“We take all reports extremely seriously and have specialist officers who can offer support and guidance to victims. We work closely with partner organisations within our multi-agency safeguarding hub to ensure victims have access to the most appropriate support services available.

“Working alongside such partner agencies is key to identifying, assessing and tackling sexual offences where children are involved.

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“As a force, we have been at the forefront in raising awareness of the dangers of online grooming. Leicestershire Police has played an active role in the production of two films – Kayleigh’s Love Story and Breck’s Last Game – which have been rolled out to children and young people in both the UK and beyond.

“Both films were produced to help both parents and children in spotting the signs of online grooming.”