Thousands of the region's children are running away from home each year, new figures reveal.

Poor family relationships are the main cause of youngsters under the age of 16 leaving home, either running away or being forced to leave, says a report by The Children's Society.

The charity's dossier of despair - Home Run -- found that children who live in step families are three times more likely to have run away or have been thrown out, than those living in two parent families.

Children living in one parent families are twice as likely to run away or be forced to leave.

Fran Johnson, head of the society in the region, said: "Family relations are under most stress in periods of change and upheaval.

"We're calling for more mediation to help reduce tensions in family lives to prevent children running away in the first place.

"Where children are at risk we need to find safe places for them."

A breakdown of the figures in the report reveal that 1,730 youngsters run away from homes in Tyne and Wear or are thrown out each year.

The total for North Yorkshire is 1,150 youngsters leaving home; 1,085 runaways on Teesside and nearly 1,000 leaving home in County Durham.

Charity workers discovered that about two thirds of the runaways stay in the area.

Of those who had run away more than three times, 53 per cent had first run away before the age of 11.

There are 14,000 children, nationally, who are forced to leave home by parents or carers.

One in seven experience violence or sexual assault while on the run.