MORE than 30 children were detained in police cells "inappropriately", a report has found.

Carried out by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons, the report reviewed Warwickshire and West Mercia Police's custody operations, and found that as well as the children who were detained the quality of risk assessment, particularly in West Mercia, was "variable".

In one case, the unannounced inspection found that a 14-year-old boy was identified as not being at risk despite his disclosure of very recent self-harm. He self-harmed within 15 minutes of being placed in a cell.

The inspection was carried out in October, and the 36 children were held in cells 12 months before it took place.

It says "Custody staff knew the importance of ensuring children were not detained in custody overnight and made strenuous efforts to avoid this, but had been unsuccessful too often".

Inspectors are calling on the forces to review the situation. They said "the Police and Crime Commissioner and chief officer group for both forces should engage with their counterparts in the local authority areas and immediately review provision of local authority accommodation for young people to ensure that children are not detained unnecessarily in police cells".

In a joint statement, the forces say they are acting on resolving the issues highlighted, and take the findings "extremely" seriously.

A spokesman for the forces said: "We take the findings and recommendations extremely seriously and, in addition to continuing the work in the areas that were highlighted positively, we have already acted to resolve many of the issues raised through this inspection.

"All custody officers have gone through additional training and we now have four dedicated custody inspectors, with a chief inspector dedicated to overseeing these inspectors.

"We are working with local authorities, as well as looking at additional options, to ensure better provision of the right level of care and services for children and vulnerable adults.

"In the longer term we are planning to enhance facilities at our custody suites in line with the recommendations."

Inspectors visited the custody suites at Worcester, Telford, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa and Nuneaton.

The inspection did find, however, that the health care of detainees was "very good" and that officers provided an "adequate" level of care overall.

Nick Hardwick, of HM Inspectorate of Prisons, said: "The creation of the custody alliance between West Mercia and Warwickshire was a sensible strategy.

"However, at the time of this inspection, these new arrangements were still bedding in. There were significant gaps in the management structure and despite adequate care overall, weak oversight and partnerships had led to poor management of some vulnerable detainees, in some cases including children, and the much too regular use of inappropriate and disproportionate restraint techniques."