Sky News reports that the number of children rescued from paedophiles prowling the internet has doubled to a record number in the past year.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) said it safeguarded 278 young people over the past 12 months. This was twice the amount protected in the previous period and the most in one year since Ceop was established in 2006.

Of the children, 47 were identified through analysis of photographs and videos posted online by paedophiles. Meanwhile, 417 suspected child sex offenders were arrested for offences from possessing indecent images to rape.

Home Office crime prevention minister James Brokenshire said the Government was committed to protecting children.

“Ceop plays a vital role which means more children are safeguarded, more offenders are apprehended and more professionals are trained,” he said.

The unit has seen some success in introducing a “panic button” for websites, despite a public spat with social networking site Facebook. Investigators received more than 6,200 reports of suspicious activity online through the button, including grooming and fraud.

The unit has also set up a network of more than 46,000 volunteers to give internet safety lessons.

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