Lincolnshire Police carried out 17 strip searches on children in just over four years, a new report has revealed.

The force says that all searches were looking for concealed drugs.

It comes as the Children's Commissioner has raised concerns about how searches are conducted of children in police custody.

Eight of the strip searches carried out by Lincolnshire Police did not have an appropriate adult present.

The force says that seven of these was due to urgency and risk of harm to the subjects; in the other, a parent was in custody but refused to be present for the search.

All searching officers were the same gender as the subjects.

15 were carried out in custody, having been detained under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and taken to custody or were searched in custody after arrest.

The remaining two strip searches were carried out at the home address with a parent present, and no further action as nothing was found.

The Childen's Commissioner recently analysed forces across England and Wales and found that 2,847 strip searches on youngsters between eight and 17 were carried out between 2018 and mid-2022.

The report found that more than half of searches nationwide were carried out without an appropriate adult present.

It also raised concerns about those conducted in police vehicles, schools and other inappropriate locations, and those with officers of a different gender being present.

Dame Rachel de Souza, who conducted the research, said: "The way these searches have been conducted suggests that too often police are forgetting that children are children. The primary duty of the police, as with all other professionals, should be to safeguard them from harm.

She added: "Every interaction the police have with a child should be seen as an opportunity to understand their situation, in order to safeguard them from exploitation and prevent their involvement with both crime and the criminal justice system. "

The commissioner recommended a comprehensive review of strip searches and tougher guidelines around them.

Lincolnshire Police did not comment on the findings.