Missing child hotline backed

A new telephone hotline to start a Europe-wide alert for cases of missing children like Madeleine McCann has been instigated by local Euro-MP Arlene McCarthy.

Her proposal to force member states to provide a 116000 Missing Child Hotline across all EU countries is set to get the full support of the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week.

The European Commission will provide 1 million euro funding to develop the hotline across Europe.

Ms McCarthy, the chairman of the EU’s Consumer Protection Committee, said: “With 7,500 children going missing in the UK and Belgium alone last year, action at a European level on missing children is vital.

“This funding will help support EU-wide measures to improve co-operation on missing children and I hope that our European missing child systems will be modelled on the amber alert system in the US, which has helped recover moe than 400 missing children.”

“Nearly two years after the introduction of a voluntary Europe-wide number only seven member states have established the 116000 hotline service.

“The voluntary approach is not working and that is why I proposed incorporating the 116000 number into law, establishing a right across all 27 EU states for citizens to access the missing child hotline.

“Statistics on missing children across Europe show that this is an area where Europe can and must act to help identify, track down and recover missing children.

“The first 24 hours are crucial to safely recovering missing children. Ensuring that we have a common helpline number in all member states will help speed up the vital response by national authorities wherever a child goes missing, as well as in neighbouring countries.”