More than 2,600 children as young as three have disappeared from Scottish schools for prolonged periods of time and some never found, according to new figures obtained by the BBC.

In some cases, children are marked as missing because they have moved house and failed to tell the school.

Agencies say others disappear for more “sinister” reasons including abuse and forced marriage.

In the past five years, 2,619 children aged three to 16 have gone missing.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, include 719 children going missing in the past year.

Children are categorised as “missing in education” if the authorities are unable to track them down from four weeks or more – or two to three days in the case of vulnerable children .

Some 24 children were never traced – in the main because authorities say they moved abroad.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30485952