Almost 500 children were abducted from Britain and taken abroad last year, the Guardian newspaper said revealed, highlighting Pakistan as a hotspot.

An estimated 470 youngsters were abducted in 336 separate cases reported to authorities last year, a 20 per cent increase on 2005 figures, according to data obtained by the newspaper under freedom of information laws.

More children were taken illegally to Pakistan than anywhere else, with 30 cases, while 23 were taken to the US, 22 to Ireland and 21 to Spain.

Other abduction hotspots included Australia, France and Egypt, the Guardian said.

Abductions usually occur when marriages break down between couples of different nationalities, and the parent not awarded legal custody kidnaps their children and flees abroad, it said.

The cases are not normally publicised because they are dealt with in the family courts where reporting restrictions apply to any cases involving the welfare of minors.

The British government has little power to intervene in around 40 per cent of all abduction cases as they involve children being taken to countries not a signatory to the Hague convention.