'I lost count of how many times I ran away'

"I lost count of how many times I ran away."

Every year about 250,000 people go missing across the UK. Many of them, like Jack, do it over and over again.

"Sometimes it was down to boredom, other times I'd be really angry."

The 20-year-old spent years in foster care and residential homes.

"The staff aren't allowed to restrain you, or stop you leaving if you're trying to run away.

"If I wanted to stay at a friend's house overnight I'd have to call about 50 million different people to find out whether I could go.

"So I'd end up just going anyway and dealing with the consequences when I was back.

"Once I ran away with a lad who had serious mental health problems, so they called the police. If they'd had sent a social worker that could have put them at serious risk."

The question of who is responsible for runaway teenagers like Jack is under scrutiny.

One of the UK's top police officers - Sir Peter Fahy - says repeat runaways are costing his department £30 million a year.

In one case he says Greater Manchester Police spent £70,000 trying to track down a teenager who'd gone missing for the 49th time.

He says that's too much and that social workers need to take on more cases. They don't agree.

"It's not good enough to be saying this is not a priority,"

Maris Stratulis from the British Association of Social Workers told us.

"The police have got to take responsibility along with other agencies."

Jack thinks it's important the police are called in certain cases.

"I can understand the police saying they don't have the time and money, but at the same time some of the places I ran off to weren't exactly the safest.

"Kids don't run away to go to the zoo. They're usually running away to do something they shouldn't.

"I've ran away before and had people offer me drink and drugs. It's not the initial running away that puts the young person at risk, it's who they're meeting and what they're doing."

"We've got all these professionals deciding who's fault it is, but nobody's asked the young people who are running away what their opinions are on it.

"They're just dismissed as the problem and not involved in the solution."