Child trafficking through Dover has come under the spotlight after new figures revealed 25 children have gone missing while under the care of the council.

Between April 1 and August 31 this year, 25 young people, aged between 12 and 17, disappeared from care after being brought illegally through Kent’s channel ports.

That is almost a quarter of the number of foreign youngsters who have been brought into the county for exploitation and placed either in a home or with foster parents.

But Jenny Whittle, from Kent County Council pictured left, said it was almost impossible to stop them from leaving their carers.

She said: "The only way you can prevent a child going missing, 100%, is to detain them and that's not in line with their human rights and it's not moral either. What we need to do and what we are doing is everything we can to build up a relationship of trust with these children."

The cabinet member for specialist childrens' services added: "What I think we need to recognise is that the majority of these children are 17 and a half and when they reach adulthood they have to make a fresh claim for asylum and I think the threat of deportation is the main reason why they go missing."

Sixteen of the 25 children who have disappeared from KCC’s care were aged 17.

But recent figures also suggest the number of children who have been trafficked into the county may be increasing with 107 suspected victims referred to the council between April and the end of August suggesting an annual rate of 256, compared to last year’s 238.

They are brought in for a range of reasons from sexual exploitation to working on cannabis farms.

But Ms Whittle said the council is doing their best to work with those children referred to them.

"We've set up a specialist sub-group of the Kent Children Safeguarding Board to look at what additional support we can put in place to deter people from going missing from our care and we’re working with Barnardoes to put in place specialist foster care as they’ve worked with people who have been trafficked in the past and they’ve got the expertise."