Up to three children a week die as a result of abuse, shocked MPs have been told.

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert told the Government's children's select committee that 210 children died as a result of abuse between April last year and this August.

Among them was 17-month-old Baby P who died in August last year after he suffered more than 50 injuries at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.

Committee chairman Barry Sheerman told Ms Gilbert: "You have brought to us the most horrific figures I've ever seen brought into the public domain."

The statistics quoted by the NSPCC are that between one and two children die following cruelty every week in England and Wales and one child is killed at the hands of their parents every ten days.

Ofsted's annual report published last month concluded that 282 children had died with a suspicion of abuse.

Ms Gilbert said that 72 of those had died as the result of other causes, such as road accidents, leaving 210 who were subject to abuse or neglect.

The committee also heard that 21 of those children were babies, of which only two had been known to social services.

Earlier, Ms Gilbert said Ofsted is considering introducing a "whistleblower hotline" for social workers in light of the Baby P tragedy.

She said the initiative would allow frontline staff to raise any "serious concerns" they had about child safety.

It would be in addition to the measures announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls aimed at tightening up child protection services in local authorities.

Ms Gilbert told the Commons schools select committee: "We want to make it easier for front-line staff to tell us when things are going wrong.

"We are considering the introduction of a confidential whistle-blowers hotline in 2009 for social workers and other frontline professionals to alert us to any serious concerns about practise that fails to ensure the safety and welfare of those they serve."

Ms Gilbert told the cross-party group of MPs of concerns raised during Ofsted's recent investigation of child protection services at Haringey Council, which had been requested by Mr Balls.

She said: "There were certain procedures which weren't being picked up.

"The ideal is you try to see the child alone or have some personal connection with the child during the visit. That is not always possible, in which case it should be recorded as not possible.

"It was being recorded four or five times that a child could not be seen. This should have been picked up in supervision, which happens between a social worker and the managers."

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