FIVE convicted Hampshire sex offenders are missing and on the run.

They are among 396 offenders across the country who have disappeared despite being monitored after their convictions.

Hampshire Constabulary says that the five are all believed to be abroad and the force is working with other police forces to bring them back to the UK.

Freedom of Information requests revealed that 38 police forces in the UK did not know the whereabouts of at least one convicted sex offender.

Registered sex offenders – including rapists and paedophiles – are required to inform police and probation officers of their addresses and are supposed to be monitored by officials working under multi-agency public protection arrangements.

Hampshire said that five offenders were currently missing, though the force refused to disclose the “personal details” of the offenders or how they came to be on the run.

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Paul Gelman said: “Hampshire Constabulary takes an extremely robust and proactive approach to managing registered sex offenders.

“They are managed by a dedicated offender management team.

“If the whereabouts of someone managed by us becomes unknown, significant resources are deployed to locate and if necessary detain them and bring them before the courts.

“If it is suspected that an offender has travelled abroad, we work closely with our international counterparts to share information and ensure any risk is properly managed.

“If appropriate we will seek to get the person detained and returned to the UK.”

Claude Knights, chief executive of the charity Kidscape, which aims to protect children from harm and abuse, said: “We know that sex offenders are at their most volatile and dangerous when they are living in chaotic and unsettled circumstances.

Registered sex offenders who are of no fixed abode are very difficult to assess and monitor and most importantly are not complying with notification requirements.

“The safety of our communities depends on predators being on the appropriate radars.

“We have a duty of care to potential victims.”

Three convicted sex offenders have failed to provide information about their current addresses in Dorset, which is a requirement of the Sex Offenders Act.

A spokesman from the force said there were 612 registered sex offenders living in the county as of last year, all of whom were known to the police.