THE number of paedophiles caught with depraved images and videos of child sex abuse online has more than doubled in just one year, according to new figures obtained by the Oxford Mail.

Statistics from a Freedom of Information request reveal that across Oxfordshire criminal cases involving indecent images of children is at a four-year high.

The huge surge in criminal activity comes two weeks after a court judge warned police forces were now 'contracting out' investigations to cope with demand and that many cases were taking years just to come to the courts.

Responding to the data, director of child sex abuse charity 'Stop it Now' - an arm of Oxfordshire charity Lucy Faithful Foundation, said the numbers represented 'a plateau' but showed more and more offenders were being brought to justice.

Charity director Donald Findlater told Oxford Mail: "Clearly the figures are a striking reflection of the circumstances since 2015.

"It doesn't necessarily mean there has been a doubling in the size of the problem, such as the numbers of people offending.

"I think the more likely explanation is that over the last two or three years police have been increasing their resources against the problem, on a national as well as a local level."

According to the data, this year – up to October 31 - there were 391 recorded offences, more than double the 190 offences recorded last year. In 2016 the county saw a total of 209 recorded offences while in 2015 there were 182, according to the figures.

Last month, the Oxford Mail also revealed that recorded sexual offences had gone up this year by 15 per cent to 5,114 reports, while reports of offences of stalking and harassment had increased 76 per cent to 5,473.

Mr Findlater said that the spike in indecent image related offences had been much the same across the UK, and said he expected 2018 represented 'a plateauing' in the year-on-year numbers.

The charity is also set to launch a Thames Valley-wide awareness campaign in February urging offenders or anybody with information about an offence to come forward and contact their national helpline.

Answering the figures, Thames Valley Police said that more and more was being done to encourage the reporting of online child sex abuse.

Detective Superintended Nick John, Head of Protecting Vulnerable People, said: “More is being done to identify at risk children and the Thames Valley Police Hidden Harm campaign has been an integral part of the work we are doing with our partners to encourage reporting. This will have had an impact on the numbers of cases we are investigating as confidence increases.

“Thames Valley Police is committed to tackling cases involving indecent images of children or vulnerable people within our communities.

“Keeping children and vulnerable people safe from harm is all of our responsibility, we rely on information from members of the public to identify crimes and keep victims safe.

“The public can be assured that we will always investigate such cases thoroughly and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to bring offenders to justice in court.”

Responding to the use of out-sourced companies to help its investigations the force said: “We do seek external support to retrieve images from devices, but any material gathered is then investigated by Thames Valley Police.”

Also responding to the Oxfordshire figures this week national charity NSPCC called on internet providers and social media channels to do more to help combat the problem.

An NSPCC spokeswoman said: “We know that indecent image offences are on the rise, and in 2017/18 an offence was recorded on average every 23 minutes by police forces in the UK.

“Every image represents a real child who has been abused to supply this appalling trade which must – and can – be stopped.

“But the war on online child abuse images cannot be left up to the police and justice system alone. Internet providers and social networks must commit more resources to prevent this vile material being circulated in the first place.

“Our Wild West Web campaign is calling on the government to introduce a tough independent regulator to hold social networks to account, and tackle grooming to cut off the supply of indecent images at source.”

The Stop It Now helpline can be contacted on 08001000900 for anybody with concerns about child sexual abuse. To report a crime contact 101 and in an emergency alway dial 999.