CHILDREN and babies went missing from county council care on nearly 2,000 occasions over two years, figures reveal.
There were 1,979 incidents of youngsters up to the age of 17 recorded as missing between January 2012 and December 2013. Two asylum seekers are still missing, while 11 of them were aged one or younger.
A spokesman said: "Essex County Council takes its responsibilities towards looked after children very seriously and that includes when children go missing."
The figures were released following a nationwide Freedom of Information request.
The NSPCC branded the news "very alarming".
Kent had the most damning record, with 458 children going missing on 2,623 occasions.
Essex County Council refused to identify precisely how many children were recorded missing.
"The figures included within the FOI response must be seen in context. Essex County Council is the second largest local authority in England, by population, and there is, consequentially, a high number of children that it has statutory responsibility for," added the spokesman.
Liberal Democrat county councillor Jude Deakin, who sits on the corporate parenting panel, said children can be recorded as missing by simply failing to return home on time after school.
Cllr Deakin added: "Ultimately if children want to go missing they will."