DORSET Police has been praised for the way it deals with missing children.

Inspectors examining all forces in England and Wales also commended the Force's readiness to tackle child sexual exploitation.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary made special mention of the way in which Dorset Police shares information with social services and other partners when a child goes missing.

The Force was also praised for categorising all such children as missing, as opposed to some Forces who describe some as absent and reduce the level and urgency of the police response.

Head of Dorset Police’s Public Protection Unit, Superintendent Kevin Connolly, said: "Responding to reports of missing children can be complicated and time-consuming so I am delighted that Dorset has been identified as a force using notably positive initiatives in its work.

"The Force has already recognised the danger of categorising missing children as absent as the associated risks to that child, such as sexual and other types of exploitation, make them vulnerable and so must be a priority to be found. Therefore, no missing child in Dorset has been recorded as absent since we implemented a policy against this in May 2015.

“The Force takes any report of a missing child very seriously and we work with our partners to ensure safeguarding and implement measures to reduce any risk as early as possible."