CHILDREN’S charity NSPCC warned yesterday that investigations into female genital mutilation (FGM) cases were on the increase yet police were failing to charge individuals.

Forces revealed dozens of suspected FGM offences had been recorded over the last three years but only a handful of arrests had been made in that time.

The NSPCC said the lack of convictions highlighted the “tough challenge” facing police.

The figures followed plans to prosecute parents who fail to prevent their daughters being subjected to FGM.

West Midlands Police revealed that 49 FGM cases were investigated between January and June — more than the total number of cases the force recorded last year.

Two people were arrested in 2012, but no-one was charged between 2011 to June this year.

Avon and Somerset investigated 16 suspected FGM offences last year, up from four in 2012 and six in 2011.

The force also investigated six cases between January and June this year but refused to provide information on the number of arrests or charges.

Police Scotland said a strategic group set up last year to tackle FGM had investigated 14 child welfare concerns involving 16 girls in 2013/14. In each case no criminality was found, a force spokesman said.

Staffordshire, Sussex Hampshire, Thames Valley, Suffolk, Lancashire and North Wales police forces also investigated suspected FGM offences in the last three years but no charges were brought.

A number of forces including Scotland Yard, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Derbyshire, Norfolk, Durham, West Mercia, Cleveland, City of London, Northamptonshire, Dorset and West Yorkshire refused to provide information.

The NSPCC said its FGM helpline had received 321 reports since it launched last June — 148 of which had been referred to police and children’s services.

NSPCC head of child protection John Cameron said the figures weren’t a surprise.

He saidL “We know that the police face a very tough challenge in gaining the appropriate evidence to prove that a child is at risk of FGM — a hidden and complex cultural form of child abuse.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers said every allegation of FGM was “treated seriously and thoroughly investigated” and it was “heartened” that more people were confident to report suspected cases.