Cases of child cruelty in Kirklees and Calderdale shot up by 50% last year.
A total of 84 cases of cruelty to children were recorded by police in the two areas in the year to June 2015 according to an analysis of open crime data by the Examiner.
This is an increase of 50% compared to the 56 in the year to June 2014 and is the equivalent of 1.3 crimes for every 10,000 residents, lower than the national average.
There were 47 incidents in Kirklees, and 37 in Calderdale.
In Calderdale the figure equates to 1.8 cases of child cruelty for every 10,000 people while in Kirklees it was 1.1 per 10,000.
Across the whole of England and Wales there were 9,738 recorded cases of cruelty to children in the 12 months to June 2015 at a rate of 1.7 per 10,000 people.
This is an increase of 19% when compared to the 12 months to June 2014 and a 45 % jump when compared to the year to June 2013.
Most of the figures mentioned cover the 12 months up to and including June 2015.
They are taken from Government statistics compiled from police crime data.
