Councillors have ordered an urgent report after hearing that Blackpool's foster care system is "overwhelmed."

Members of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee turned the spotlight on the resort's Fostering Services department during a meeting on Monday evening.

According to nine-strong committee's newly appointed chair - Cllr Don Clapham - the state of the fostering network has almost reached "critical" stage after a significant increase in the number of children needing foster care and support over the last year.

So far the council has coped with the increase by doubling the number of children placed with the borough's network of 100 foster carers and trying to recruit more foster families, as well as calling upon a number of voluntary and independent fostering agencies.

This has also meant a "significantly higher" financial increase in the cost for each foster placement.

Cllr Clapham said: "The current foster care situation is an issue of great concern and an absolute priority for everybody on the committee.

"The borough already had hundreds of children relying on the fostering service at the sfosteringtart of the year, but the last 12 months has seen the network overwelmed by increasing need.

"There just aren't the families and homes to deal with the amount of children needing residential care and support.

"It's getting to be critical that we tackle the situation head-on and come up with realistic solutions as quickly as possible.

"These are children's lives we're dealing with here."

A Blackpool Council spokeswoman confirmed: "The council has seen an increase in the number of children looked after this year in comparison to the same period last year.

"This has resulted in an increased use of placements within the council's own fostering service and with voluntary and independent fostering agencies.

"The overall cost of placements has risen, due to the increased numbers of children looked after.

"As a result of the increased numbers of children looked after, the council has had to rely on a greater use of the independent fostering providers.

The financial cost of these placements are significantly higher than the council's own fostering placements."

Committee members have now formed a working group in readiness of the report, which is set to be presented in the New Year.