The survey, conducted through Freedom of Information requests by the Care Leavers Association (CLA), found that of the 202 councils they asked more than 40 had no idea where some of the children in their care had been for the last year (September 2008 - September 2009).
Most of those missing are lone child asylum seekers, raising fears that child trafficking could be involved, and one in ten were under the age of 14.
It is thought the number could be much higher as six councils - Birmingham, Buckinghamshire, Edinburgh, Kent, Norfolk and Waltham Forest - failed to provide sufficient responses said the CLA. These ommissions could be considerable given that Birmingham is the UK's largest council and Kent is on the frontline of dealing with asylum seekers because of its location.
Victoria Hull, national development worker for the CLA said it was worrying that so many of the UK’s most vulnerable young people were disappearing into thin air.
'It is imperative that every local authority keeps a central record of all missing looked after children and their current status and this is still not happening,' she said
'As the corporate parent, local authorities have a particular responsibility towards these young people. Any parent who had an untraced child would be frantic with worry – our view is that local authorities should feel the same way.
'Unaccompanied asylum seeking young people are obviously particularly vulnerable and should be appointed a guardian on arrival who can advocate on their behalf. They should be safely housed away from known trafficking routes’
