The NSPCC is warning children in Burton and South Derbyshire not to broadcast their location to potential attackers via Snap Maps.

Last month, social media giant Snapchat launched its brand new feature which lets users share their whereabouts with everyone in their contacts list.

Snap Maps allows users to see what precise building their friends are in, if they are currently travelling or if they are listening to music.

Although the new feature may seem exciting to young users, it could mean paedophiles, stalkers and bullies could use it to track down their potential victims, says the children's charity.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is now urging young people to turn on 'Ghost Mode' on the application, which allows users to hide their location from their contacts.

Snap Maps lets users see where their friends are in the world
Snap Maps lets users see where their friends are in the world

The charity also wants the Government to force social media networks to offer Safe Accounts for Under 18s that will have location settings switched off as a default.

It feels that Snap Maps could leave young people in Burton and South Derbyshire vulnerable to grooming, stalking, bullying, controlling behaviour or feeling excluded.

The charity is encouraging users to think about who is on their Snapchat contact list, and who they are really sharing their location with.

Research from Netaware, the NSPCC’s online safety website, found that 36 per cent of young people have added someone online they don’t know in the last six months.

NPSCC Child Safety Online expert Rose Bray said: “Even limiting Snap Maps to the ‘friends only’ setting is risky if those contacts include people you don’t know.

“This highlights why it’s vital Government forces social networks to offer Safe Accounts to under 18s, with the highest privacy settings and location settings locked off.

“Young people can hide their location using Ghost Mode, which can be switched on from the Snap Maps screen.

“The NSPCC’s Share Aware materials online can help parents to start these conversations”

According to Childline statistics, the number of counselling sessions about online bullying increased by 12 per cent to 5,103 last year.

Childline gave 2,132 counselling sessions about child sexual exploitation online last year, which includes online grooming, online sexual harassment and engaging in sexually explicit activity online – a 44 per cent increase on the previous year.

Snapchat states on its website that if people choose to share their location with anyone, itwill check from time to time to ensure that is still the option they wish to take.