There has been a marked increase in the number of unpaid carers in Nottinghamshire with children as young as five taking on care roles for family members needing help.

Nottinghamshire County Council data shows there are 5,562 carers under the age of 25 – 650 of which are aged between 5 and 17.

It comes as the authority has drafted its Carers' Strategy, which aims to "enable unpaid carers to access the right support they need to enable them to maintain their caring role whilst having a life alongside caring".

According to data from the census in 2011, there were 90,698 carers in Nottinghamshire – which is estimated by Carers UK to have risen to 189,040 in 2021.

In the city, there are around 54,400 carers.

Councillor Steve Carr (Lib Dem) said during the Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee on March 14: "There are some figures in this report that are extremely concerning to me.

"The fact that the estimate is that we have now got over 189,000 carers, just in the county.

"We've got 5,562 carers under the age of 25 and of those, 650 carers who are between the ages of 5 and 17.

"I joined the party that I am in a long time ago because I am always of the opinion that people should have opportunities throughout their life.

"What opportunities are those 650 children missing out on?"

Councillor Matt Barney (Con) said: "This is a beautifully put together report. You can feel a living heartbeat in this report of care, of us working together across Nottinghamshire.

"Like Cllr Carr who has referenced the shocking details in the number of people that this report identifies who are providing care and support services, I was surprised and shocked.

"The numbers are amplified in this report and inescapable."

Boyd Elliott, Chairman of the committee (Con) said: "These numbers appear alarming but the council has done an awful lot of work to identify these carers, so a lot of them were around prior to that."

Sue Batty Service Director, Ageing Well Community Services, agreed that there is a "very high number" of unpaid carers in the county and said more are being identified every year.

She said: "The work we do with those young carers is absolutely to make sure that they have the same chance, that they are able to do that caring role without it negatively impacting on their health and well-being.

"Some young carers are very proud of the role that they have.

"We know that informal carers have been significantly impacted by Covid. We have seen a lot more people taking on a caring role and we have seen many carers experiencing high stress and fatigue levels.

"Supporting these carers and future new carers is a priority within the strategy."

Councillors voted unanimously to approve the recommendation to approve the undertaking of a public consultation on the draft Carers' Strategy.