SIX registered sex offenders are currently missing in the West Mercia Police force area, with the location of one unknown for a staggering EIGHT years.

Details revealed under the Freedom of Information Act show hundreds of convicted sex offenders have gone missing across the UK.

Registered sex offenders, including rapists and paedophiles, are required to inform police and probation officers of their addresses and are supposed to be monitored by officials working under multi-agency public protection arrangements.

In West Mercia, the whereabouts of one sex offender have been unknown for eight years, while another in the area has been missing for six years and one for four years.

Two others went missing 18 months ago and another disappeared five months ago, an FOI request by the Press Association uncovered.

West Mercia Police were asked if they wanted to release details about the offenders in order to help trace them, but chose not to.

They cited negative publicity for the sex offenders and data protection as the reasons behind this decision.

Superintendent Steve Eccleston from West Mercia Police Protecting Vulnerable People said: “Any person subject of notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act are actively managed by police and also partner agencies.

“The minority of offenders who have failed to comply with notification requirements are actively pursued.

“The number of offenders who have failed to register is very low and ongoing enquiries indicate that some are not in the UK currently.

“All necessary agencies have been informed and safeguards are put in place to ensure that they will be pursued irrespective of their current location.

“Processes exist to ensure that information is exchange and people are protected abroad as appropriate.

“It may be appropriate to release a name or photograph in order to identify the location of an person who has failed to register if it is believed it to be proportionate, with a clear operational policing purpose and in order to protect people from harm.

“When making the decision on whether to give such details we balance this policing need with the rights of the individual and whilst considering any repercussions publicity may have on their family.”

New figures have shown 396 registered sex offenders are wanted because their whereabouts are unknown, including some who have been missing for more than a decade.

A total of 39 forces revealed there were missing registered sex offenders in their areas in February or early March, but stressed the figures could change as arrests are made or new cases come to light.

Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and killed in 2000 by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting, said: “It’s completely unacceptable that any registered sex offenders have disappeared from authority management, putting the public at risk.

“It’s time to take some serious proactive action to bring them back under the police radar.”

The NSPCC described the figures as “alarming” and said its own research had found there was just one police staff member responsible for every 50 registered sex offenders.