Kent has one of the highest figures in England for parents leaving their children home alone, it’s been revealed.

Figures released today show police in the county investigated more allegations of parents abandoning their children at home than any other county in the south of England.

Only Yorkshire recorded more arrests by police in the last three months of last year.

In Kent there were 10 cases between October and December: that is nearly a tenth of all cases recorded in England and Wales.

Yorkshire notched up just two more arrests in that period.

The figures, obtained by the Press Association, who 105 mothers and fathers in the country were investigated by police in the period.

Cases involved youngsters aged from just a few weeks to 14 years old.

The law doesn’t specify what age children can be left alone, but those arrested are on suspicion of cruelty or neglect.

Figures provided by police forces in England and Wales following Freedom of Information (FoI) requests showed that 30 of those arrested were released without further action, 24 accepted a police caution and 19 were charged.

In other cases, investigations were ongoing or details of how suspects were dealt with were not available.