Hundreds of Rotherham children have gone missing in 2016

But the meeting was told that figure was down by 50 per cent on last year.

Cllr Gordon Watson told a full meeting of Rotherham Borough Council that there had been 200 “missing episodes” of children recorded.

He said that the term did not mean that the children remained missing, and that some may have only been absent for a short time.

Mr Watson said: “It’s an improving picture but it’s never good enough if even one child goes missing.”

He said the decrease in missing episodes was due to work being done by Social Services.

Mr Watson added that none of the children recorded in the figures were still missing.

He added: “When children return we are very rigorous at doing return home interviews, to find out what the issues are.”