These words are chilling...but real. "I thought for a long time that what was happening was okay because Dad said that it was a game that all fathers played with their sons, a secret game that only men knew about." (Source: ChildLine)

Abuse of children, sexually or physically, is more common than we think, or at least like to think. The national charity ChildLine recently received its millionth call from a child needing help and their experts believe one in ten youngsters in the UK are now sexually abused.

About 95 per cent of kids calling about physical or sex abuse know their abuser, and it's usually someone in their family. These innocent youngsters sometimes end up on a social service's at-risk register if they manage to pluck up the courage to reveal what has happened to them.

The Government says their cases should be reviewed every six months once a child is removed from the register but it is not happening in Oxfordshire.

Huge workloads at Oxfordshire County Council sometimes mean the half-yearly timescale can slip. Today, there are 280 children on Oxfordshire's register. About 60 social workers will have an at-risk child as part of their case-load. Already caught up in a swamp of paperwork, the national shortage of social workers does not help, either. Social services director Mary Robertson admits there is a problem with reviewing cases but says they are not letting children down.

She said: We know there is a problem and it is not acceptable and we will do everything we can to rectify the situation. One of the main problems we have when it comes to doing a review is getting everyone together. We have to have a social worker, health visitor, teacher and the family in one room and sometimes co-ordinating everyone is a nightmare. "We may now have to look at carrying out reviews when some of those people are not present so we can reach the target. I am certain children are not being placed at further risk because of the delay they are certainly not being ignored."

On the bright side, overall performance figures for the county's social services department were far from disappointing. Its work was rated on 50 areas, with 17 said to be good or very good.

*ChildLine is on 0800 1111.