CUMBRIA Police is among the top forces in the UK to disclose details about child sex offenders to worried members of the public.

The force has been named for having among the highest proportion of successful applications under the Child Sex Offenders Disclosure (CSOD), also known as Sarah’s Law.

The scheme was rolled out across England and Wales in April 2011 following a campaign by Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was murdered by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.

It allows parents and guardians to ask police if someone who has contact with their child has been convicted or suspected of child abuse, but disclosure is not guaranteed.

The NSPCC has published figures from Freedom of Information requests which show since the national scheme began in April 2011, just one in six applications for information has been successful.

But, Cumbria Police had among the highest proportion of successful applications with nine out of 14 resulting in disclosures.

Detective Superintendent Cath Thundercloud, at Cumbria Police, said: “Although figures in Cumbria show that a high number of applications have been successful in gaining information, we are far from complacent. The force works with a number of partner agencies in order to protect children within the county.

“Each application is judged on its own merit and a number of factors are taken into account before a decision is made. Cumbria Constabulary is committed to protecting members of the public and urge that anyone who has information relating to sexual offences involving a child to make contact so an investigation can commence.”

The NSPCC claims there is wide variation in the proportion of disclosures made by different police forces, indicating a postcode lottery when it comes to responding to public concerns.

Warwickshire Police gave information about people who pose a risk to children in just one per cent of their applications received (13 out of 1,084 applications) and Suffolk Police disclosed information they held for around a third of applications (31 out of 93 made).

Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “We are both disturbed and surprised by this wide discrepancy of figures across the country, revealing that there is a postcode lottery when it comes to how forces deal with Sarah’s law.

“Families need to know if there are individuals in their area who pose a risk to children.”