CHILD abuse in East Lancashire is worse than anywhere else in the county and injury and neglect cases have more than doubled in the last year, according to a alarming new report.

More than 40 per cent of all children placed on the county's child protection register in the year ending March 1996 were from the area.

The figures were recorded at a time when improved detection levels led to a 14 per cent rise in youngsters on the register.

The increase included a 112 per cent rise in neglect and physical injury and a continuing rise in emotional abuse cases. Just under half of the 256 children who suffered sexual abuse were from the East Lancashire area.

Between April 1995 and March 1996 there were 852 children placed on the Child Protection Register, according to the annual report of Lancashire's Child Protection Committee.

They included 192 from the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale area - the highest level anywhere in the county.

And there were 168 registrations in Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley. Children on the register have their welfare monitored until it is considered safe to take them off the list. The report highlights a number of areas of concern, including:

The impact of drug abuse on parents' ability to raise children.

The shortage of treatment services for sexually abused children.

Overworked staff in the Child Protection services and a lack of training in some areas.

The need to share information on the movement and identification of adult sex offenders.

The number of children who remain on the register for more than two years.

Placing young sex offenders in residential settings where their victims live. County Child Care Manager Ian Rush said there are a range of projects aimed at preventing abuse and supporting families operating across the county.

And the number of prosecutions against adults who abuse children in Lancashire is higher than the national average.

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