Nearly 60 sex crimes against youngsters are being recorded every day across England and Wales, shock new figures revealed today.

Of the 21,618 cases of abuse – including rape, gross indecency and incest – between April 2008 and March 2009, one in seven victims were younger than 10 and 1,000 were five and under. But the NSPCC has warned that the true picture may be far worse.

The “shocking” statistics were obtained by a Freedom of Information request to 43 police forces by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Figures from West Mercia Police show that there were 498 known sex offences against young people in 2008-09 with 46 being under 10 years old.

At a national level, more than three out of four cases the offences were committed against 10 to 17-year-olds.

Phillip Noyes, the NSPCC’s director of strategy and development, said: “It’s a shocking picture – even more so because these are only offences reported to the police. We believe the true extent of the problem is far worse.

“Some of these children are so young they can’t tell anyone what is happening.”

The statistics show girls were six times more likely than boys to be the victims of a sex crime.

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: “This is the second year the NSPCC has collected this data and is again calling on the UK Government to publish these details and to clearly link them with the number of convictions and other penalties resulting from the recorded offences.

“This information could then feed into a national sex abuse prevention strategy as well as helping the development of local services to treat child victims.”

Last year figures obtained by the Shropshire Star showed a significant rise in the number of youngsters in the county subject a Child Protection Plan. They included a number believed to be at risk of sexual abuse.

Figures for Shropshire Council show that at the end of March last year there were 183 children subject to a protection plan but by the end of June numbers had risen to 214.

Over the same period Telford & Wrekin Council saw figures increase from 153 to 160.

By Dave Morris