GIRLS as young as 13 are prostituting themselves on the streets of York - and it is costing hundreds of thousands of pounds each year to save them.

Disturbed youngsters with severe emotional difficulties are being sent out of the city to intensive round-the-clock care homes, where the bill can come to more than £100,000 a year per child.

Meanwhile, the total number of children in care in York has also risen by 20 per cent to 148.

Six children are currently in the highest level of care at an estimated cost to taxpayers of £400,000 - leaving City of York Council with a major financial headache.

The problems facing the authority are made far worse by a general shortage of foster parents in York.

Among the most difficult cases is that of a 13-year-old girl with a history of self-harming and emotionally disturbed behaviour.

She was sent to a home costing more than £2,000 a week, but even this could not help her.

She was transferred from home to home, but her behaviour continued to worsen, said Pete Dwyer, assistant director of Children's Services.

After a serious fire, which she was thought to have started, she was made subject to a secure order, being kept in a secure unit for several months where she was not free to leave, and was given intensive psychological help.

"She was prostituting herself on the streets in York and really going into self-destruct, she had so much anger and hatred which no one could break through," he said.

"After the fire, she was taken into secure accommodation, and it was only there the specialists managed to help her and discovered a very emotionally disturbed past, with evidence of sexual abuse.

"In another case, we had a couple of very young girls prostituting themselves in town, but we could never understand why.

"We kept trying to help the girls but they kept returning to the streets and prostitution despite our best efforts.

"Eventually we sent one of them to an out-of-city centre to separate her from her life in York.

"It was about getting her away from the people she was with who could have influenced her, and also building her confidence, giving her self-belief and the chance to work out a way forward."

He said some young people like this needed to break patterns of behaviour and avoid dangerous relationships; others needed intensive care which could not be provided in either of the city's residential care homes.

Outside these most difficult cases, the council is spending £900 a week for every child placed with professional foster care businesses outside York.

Carers working with these agencies receive only £350 a week per child, but if the youngsters could be placed in a York home, the carers would get £500 for each child.

"The biggest pressure comes from having to use external agencies and spend £900 a week to external foster carers, when we could cope with them in the city if we had enough foster parents," said Mr Dwyer.

Updated: 10:28 Friday, November 14, 2003