Children under five were among victims of sex crimes in Surrey last year, according to figures released by a leading children’s charity.

Statistics obtained by the NSPCC showed 347 children in the county were victims of horrific crimes such as rape, incest and abuse through prostitution and pornography.

Of those young victims, 55 had not reached secondary school age and 12 were aged five and under.

The majority of the offences, 292 of them, were reported against 11 to 17-year-olds.

According to the NSPCC, more than 400 sexual assaults against children were reported to police forces in England and Wales every week last year, with fewer than one in 10 resulting in a conviction.

The NSPCC is now calling for schools and parents to educate children about staying safe and reporting abuse.

It also wants the Government to support the provision of therapeutic services for all child victims of sexual offences and treatment programmes for offenders.

Julie Cole, the NSPCC’s regional head for south London and the south-east, said: “Many of these distressing offences are committed on extremely young and helpless children, who may not understand what is happening to them and are unable to ask for help.

“The NSPCC is doing what it can by using information like this from the police to tailor our treatment services - different approaches are needed depending on the age of the child.

“We are also pioneering new programmes across our region to tackle sexual abuse of children, including our schools service which aims to visit every primary school in the county over two years.”

If adults have concerns about a child they should immediately contact social services, police or call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, where trained counsellors are on call 24 hours a day.

Children can call Childline on 0800 1111.