Nearly 5,000 disabled adults have been sexually abused in the past two years, according to council figures.

The figures, obtained by the BBC, have revealed there were 4,748 reports of sexual abuse against disabled adults between 2013-15.

The NSPCC warned the cases were ‘the visible peak’ of a much larger problem as many victims would find it difficult to report abuse.

Jon Brown, head of sexual abuse programmes at the NSPCC, told the BBC: ‘We know from research that disabled children and young people are three or four times more likely to be abused and neglected than children and young people who are not disabled.

‘Abusers are often very adept at identifying vulnerabilities. And, importantly, we know that it's less likely for children and young people to be believed as well.’

The figures show that two-thirds of the reported abuse was against people with learning disabilities

The Local Government Association (LGA) said councils 'work hard to ensure support is available'.