A "RAPID" rise in teenage girls self-harming nationally is cause for concern in south Cumbria, a campaigner has warned, while calling for an increase in funding.

Between 2011 and 2014 reports of self-harm among British girls aged between 13 and 16 rose by 68 percent, according to new research from Manchester University.

Rod White, chairman of Self-harm Awareness For All, based in Barrow, has noticed this rise in the past five years but says there has been a rise numbers of boys self-harming, too.

Mr White says the rise may be partly down to the fact that people have become better at spotting the signs.

He said: "I couldn't say for definite if the figures have risen but from what I have seen there seems to have been a rise.

"But not just with teenage girls, also with boys. Boys take a different approach to self-harming which often goes undetected for longer."

Experts from the university gathered data from 647 general practices across the UK on the number of children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 years who had self-harmed.

The study, published in The British Medical Journal, found that between 2001 and 2014, 16,912 children and adolescents were identified as having self-harmed at least once.

Of these, almost three quarters (73 per cent) were girls.

Mr White said: "Girls are often seen as the bigger priority.

"One of the difficulties in Cumbria is the inadequacy of the CAHMS service.

"Children have to be seriously ill before they will be seen and they are completely understaffed."

Safa lacks the funds they require to be able to help these children in need.

They help children from as young as 11 and have no age limit to the people they support.

Mr White said: "We have funding for the next 12 to 18 months but we need more after that in order to keep helping people.

"We take the talking approach to supporting people as well as offering training.

"I have seen far too often that people are given medication to help them. Yes, medication does help but it not always the answer in less severe cases."