Figures obtained by the Howard League for Penal Reform show that 13,000 of the children in the two-year period were aged between nine and 13.
It is believed the true figures could be far higher as half of the police forces contacted, including the Metropolitan Police, did not respond. Nine of the children detained were below the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales, 10 years old.
Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said she was horrified by how prevalent the practice is.
"Thousands of children are detained for at least one night in police cells ever year, and this is just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "We may actually be talking hundreds of thousands of children detained overnight each year.
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