MORE than 380 children aged between 11 and 17 have been held in custody overnight in Herefordshire since 2011.
A Freedom of Information request by the Hereford Times revealed that a total of 83 girls have been held overnight since 2011, and a total of 302 boys in the same period.
An 11-year-old girl was the youngest girl, held overnight in 2011 and the youngest boy was aged 12 in 2012.
The number of girls held has dropped each year, totalling 40 in 2011, 29 in 2012 and 14 so far this year.
The largest group of detainees for both boys and girls were aged 17.
However, more boys were held overnight in 2012 with 127 overall in that year, 96 in 2011 and 79 this year to date.
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