A charity is calling for urgent action to better protect children after research found 871 child sex crimes were reported to Devon and Cornwall Police last year alone.

The NSPCC has released figures obtained via Freedom of Information requests that revealed there were more than 400 offences reported to police in England and Wales every week last year, over two per hour.

Of the 871 total victims in Devon and Cornwall last year the majority of offences, 721 were reported against 11-17-year-olds however 149 were still primary school pupils.

Shockingly more than 35 sex attacks were committed against children five and under.

While police received on average two reports a day, less than one in ten offences result in someone being sentenced.

The figures reveal that nationally more than one in three of all sex crimes are committed against children. The number of girl victims was five times higher than boys.

The figures also show that over the last four years figures obtained through Freedom of Information there has been no significant decrease in reported offences.

The number of convictions has however risen by around one-quarter from 1,747 in 2007 to 2,135 in 2010.

Jon Brown, head of the charity's Sexual Abuse programme, said: “A concentrated effort has to be made if we are to start reducing this distressing level of offences, many of which are committed on extremely young and helpless children.

“The Government has to start treating the situation as seriously as they would if faced with an outbreak of chronic disease. We also need a clearer picture of what is happening between an offence being reported and someone appearing in court.

"The police are doing their best to bring prosecutions but we need to understand why there is such a huge disparity between the two figures. The fact there are repeat offences against some of the children also shows not all are just one-off incidents.

“The NSPCC is doing what it can by using information like this from the police to tailor our treatment programmes- different approaches are needed depending on the age of the child. We have also set up a Schools Service which aims to work with 174,000 seven to11 year olds over the next four years in the South West to help them recognise and protect themselves from abuse.”

He called for a major effort from government and the public to give children the protection they need.