HUNDREDS of paedophiles in Essex are not being monitored, a new report has revealed.

The report said when inspectors visited Essex Police there were 400 overdue visits to the county’s then 1,297 sex offenders including 38 high risk offenders.

This compared to 50 overdue visits the previous year.

In September, police cancelled all outstanding visits to low risk sex offenders and to medium risk offenders where visits were more than three months overdue.

It means some will not be checked on for two years.

The report found several have reoffended. The report stated: “The ratio of offender managers to offenders is a cause of concern.

“One officer had 215 offenders to manage, a part-time officer had responsibility for 120 offenders and another officer was managing 203 offenders.”

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary visited the force in the autumn 2015 and found Essex Police to be inadequate at child protection generally.

These include missing children, abused children and children vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

A second visit was made last year and the report, out today, revealed steps are being taken to improve but said more action is needed.

The report states: “Our audit shows the force did not achieve good results for children in Essex in almost three quarters of the cases we reviewed.

“This is a similar position to that identified at the time of the 2015 inspection and indicates the clear leadership and commitment to improving child protection services is not yet resulting in consistent improvements in decision-making on the front line.”

The problems are not due to a lack of care with officers complaining of “frustrating delays” with child social care and a lack of appropriate accommodation leading some officers to pay for hotel accommodation for vulnerable children.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham said: “I am pleased the force continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to improving services for children.

“This commitment and prioritisation needs to translate further into more consistent and effective safeguarding activity on the frontline.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "Essex Police accepts the findings.

"This report sets out our work on child protection has 'significantly improved' and the force has taken decisive and detailed action, meaning more children who may be at risk of some of the most serious harm we can imagine are kept safer.

"However, it is clear from our review of cases outcomes for vulnerable children and young people, while improving, in some cases could and should be better.

"As improvements and better training are embedded throughout the force, those cases are reducing and will reduce further but we will continue to work to ensure a consistently good service is provided for children.

"The report makes specific reference police protection visits to registered sex offenders in the county.

"There are over 1,600 registered sex offenders in the county and this number has increased by 30 per cent since 2012."