REPORTS made to police of abusers meeting children after grooming have more than tripled in Dorset over the past five years.

Between April 2011 and March 2012, five such reports were made. Between April 2015 and March 2016, the number was 17.

From today, Monday, April 3, police will have the power to stop groomers sooner.

A law making it illegal to send sexual messages to children was created in 2015.

However, the law was not brought into force in England and Wales, meaning offenders couldn't be arrested until they met or abused a child.

Following an NSPCC campaign, the law is now active, and police can intervene before physical abuse takes place.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Callaghan of Dorset Police said officers are "proactive in tackling grooming offences using existing legislation".

"We do everything we can within the law to protect children," DCS Callaghan said.

“The ongoing rise in the recording of sexual offences against children is a national trend and is reflected in Dorset.

“Protecting children is a force priority and a very important area of policing and partnership working. The increase in available police tactics and resources in this area means we can continue to deal with reports more robustly and help safeguard victims.

“We have dedicated teams such as the Child Sexual Exploitation Team, Child Abuse Investigation Team and Paedophile Online Investigation Team and officers and staff receive specific training to ensure an awareness and understanding of these often complex crimes, which affect some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“High profile national investigations have also raised awareness in sexual offences against children and there has been an increase in confidence of victims reporting such crimes to police, including non-recent sexual offences.

“We continue to support multi-agency efforts towards education and awareness campaigns, encouraging victims and anyone with information about those types of offences to come forward."

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “Children should be as safe online as they are offline, wherever they are in the UK.

"This law will give police in England and Wales the powers they need to protect children from online grooming, and to intervene sooner to stop abuse before it starts.”