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A significant drop in the number of child sexual abuse cases reported to police during lockdown masks the true extent of what's happened to vulnerable children, police chiefs say.

National Police Chiefs Council data shows reports in England and Wales fell by 25% between April and August, compared with the same period in 2019.

But officers told Â鶹ԼÅÄ Newsnight this does not represent the true picture.

And senior officers are warning child protection referrals will now rise.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey said he suspected the 25% fall was "a false and misleading picture" of what children may have experienced during those months.