WEST MERCIA Police receive more than two requests a week asking them to reveal if someone has a record of sex offences against children.

The number of requests under the so-called Sarah’s Law has more than doubled in eight years in the region, but the number of times police reveal details remains very small.

In 2018 West Mercia Police received 124 requests for information under the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme.

It is known as Sarah’s Law after it was introduced following the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne, eight, by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.

The figure of 124 compares with just 51 in 2011. The number of times police disclosed information was six. That compares with one in 2011 and is the highest number over the eight years.

Police say one reason for the growth in requests is awareness.

Detective Superintendent Damian Pettit said: “It is obvious the public’s confidence and knowledge of the law has enhanced since its introduction, leading to the increase in applications.”

But he pointed to “understandably strict criteria” before information can be disclosed.

“No disclosure will be made unless the applicant is a parent, carer or guardian of a child requiring information regarding a person who has unsupervised access to that particular child”.

He said there were other ways disclosures could be made that would not show up in these statistics.

Experts give an example that a grandparent may enquire about their daughter’s new partner, but the police would then inform the mother, not the grandparent, if disclosure took place.