Hundreds of potentially unwell children in England and Wales have been placed in police cells after being detained under the Mental Health Act as officers had no place else to take them.
In the first 11 months of 2013, 305 under-18s were detained in cells, with some held for over 24 hours. In 2012 there were 385 such detentions.
The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act following a request by BBC Radio 4’s the World This Weekend.