GROOMING crimes recorded in Lancashire have quadrupled in the last year, new figures have shown.

Figures obtained by the NSPCC, which campaigned for the introduction of the sexual communication with a child offence before it became law in April 2017, show there were 252 offences of sexual communication with a child in the county up to April 2019, compared to 64 the previous year.

Of the May 2018 to April 2019 figures, 58 communications were via Facebook/ Facebook Messenger, 50 were on Snapchat, 90 were on Instagram and nine were on WhatsApp.

Of the May 2017 to April 2018 figures 17 communications were via Facebook/ Facebook Messenger, 24 were on Snapchat, 19 were on Instagram and two were on WhatsApp.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Gladwin, of Lancashire's public protection unit, said: “The public quite rightly expects us to protect children from harm and our dedicated teams of officers are working every day with young people who are being exploited, firstly to get them to recognise that they have been or are being exploited, and to find ways of helping them to break free from the position they find themselves coerced into.

“In recent times we have seen improved policing by social media companies which has led to an increase in referrals to us as has the work we do to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation.

“New legislation, the sexual communication with a child offence, has also given us better opportunities to target groomers at an earlier stage, meaning we are safeguarding more children than ever before.

“We will continue to work with our partners to protect children, prevent child abuse, help victims and target offenders to bring them to justice.”

In the North West, there were 710 offences of sexual communication with a child recorded in the year to April 2019 compared with 565 in the previous year.

In England and Wales there were 4,373 offences of sexual communication with a child recorded in the year to April 2019 compared with 3,217 in the previous year.

The data obtained from 43 police forces in England and Wales under Freedom of Information laws also revealed that, where age was provided, one in five victims were aged just 11 or younger.

The Government has indicated it will publish a draft Online Harms Bill early next year.

Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “It’s now clearer than ever that 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. These figures are yet more evidence that social networks simply won’t act unless they are forced to by law.”