Police in Kent have lost track of eight registered sex offenders as it's revealed hundreds of people convicted of sexual crimes have disappeared nationwide.

According to Kent Police, one offender in the county has been classed as "missing" since September 2007.

A total of 39 forces across the country admitted they did not know where almost 400 registered sex offenders were.

Reacting to the figures, child protection advisor Jim Gamble said they must be found.

He said: "The key is finding them, punishing them and setting an example so that others who are managed, don't do what they have done.

"You will find that people who are sex offenders lie and manipulate by nature, but so many are successfully managed by the regime that we have got to send a strong message out now."

"Sex offenders lie and manipulate by nature, but so many are successfully managed by the regime that we have got to send a strong message out now..." - Child protection advisor Jim Gamble

Kent Police say there are around 1,600 sex offenders in the county, and they are "relentlessly pursuing" the 0.5% who are missing.

A spokesman said: "The number is incredibly low. However, despite being a small percentage we are not complacent and Kent Police relentlessly pursues missing registered sex offenders.

"The force recognises the risk to the community posed by missing sex offenders and will continually seek to locate them regardless of how long they have been reported missing for.

"We have specially trained officers who take charge of the investigations to locate offenders. The cases are regularly reviewed and we work closely with our partner agencies to prevent these people from evading justice."

The figures came to light following a freedom of information request by the Press Association to every police force in the UK.

Every force that responded refused to name missing sex offenders over fears of vigilante attacks or because the information was exempt under data protection laws.

By law, registered sex offenders must provide details including their address to police on an annual basis.

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