A BIG leap in the number of children taken into care in the region was yesterday linked to the fallout from the Baby P tragedy.

Local councils are removing significantly more children from parents than before the 2007 death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly, which was partially blamed on the incompetence of Haringey social workers.

Some authorities recorded huge increases, including Middlesbrough (from 12 children per 10,000, to 25.4), Redcar and Cleveland (from 13 to 22.2) and Stockton (from 12.4 to 21.5).

In the North-East and North Yorkshire, only Hartlepool bucked the trend, recording a fall in care applications from 13.3 per 10,000 to 11.7.

The figures also revealed a sharp postcode lottery, between South Tyneside (30.1 children per 10,000 taken into care) and North Yorkshire (5.4) and County Durham (11).

Martin Narey, a Government advisor on adoption, has argued an increase can be a positive development, saying: “The idea that care makes things worse has finally been defeated.”

But Cafcass, the children’s family court service, said the differences between councils were too great to be explained by “demography or deprivation”.

Last night, Middlesbrough Council revealed it had spent an extra £6m during the past three years “purely to keep up with the demand on our care services”.

Mike Carr, Middlesbrough’s executive member for children, said there was “no doubt” the Baby P case – and greater awareness of the risks facing some children – had increased referral numbers.

He added: “It is no secret that the fundamental causes of children being at risk of harm are prevalent in Middlesbrough, which has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country.

“These causes include drug and alcohol addiction, mental health illness and domestic violence.

Every day, our dedicated professionals invest a great deal of effort into securing the safety of many children in the town.”

A spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council said it had developed structures across children’s social care to reflect the challenges, such as early intervention work.

“This means we will be able to support children and their families before issues or problems become too challenging,”

she said.

Karen Robb, strategic manager, of children and young people’s services at Durham County Council, said: “The increase in looked-after children does place pressure on foster care and other services, which has financial implications for the council but our priority is to safeguard and protect vulnerable children and the council will continue to provide care for those most at risk where it is needed.”

North Yorkshire County Council says it has made children’s social care one of its top priorities and continued to invest in frontline services.

It has restructured the children’s social care service and is developing county-wide rapid response teams providing intensive round-the-clock support to families.

A spokeswoman for Stockton Borough Council said it had experienced a “significant rise” in looked-after children.

“We believe the local impact of the wider economic climate is also playing it’s part in the increase,”

she said.

The statistics published by Cafacass compare the number of care applications for children in 2007-8 – at the time of the Baby P case – with 2011-12.

Nationwide, applications are at a record high, with 10,218 new cases lodged in the year to April – 11 per cent up on the previous year and 70 per cent higher than in 2008.