Between April 2010 and March 2011, counsellors working on the helpline referred 16,385 serious cases to police or social services. This is 37 per cent higher than the previous year and the biggest recorded annual increase in referrals.
The NSPCC is now calling for a major shift in UK child protection policy towards earlier and more effective intervention in child cruelty cases.
John Cameron, head of the helpline, said: "The increase in referrals over the past year shows more people want to play their part in keeping children safe. We refer only the most serious cases to local agencies for further investigation. More than one in three of these cases involve families previously unknown to local authorities.
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