Only one out of eight hotels questioned an older guest checking in with an underage child, an undercover police operation has found.

Officers from the Torquay Neighbourhood Police Team, with support from Police Cadets, said they recently carried out an evening of action around child exploitation.

It was done as part of the national initiative Operation Makesafe, which is designed to “empower businesses and organisations to tackle child exploitation” and to “increase awareness and training of early warning signs”.

A plain-clothed officer and cadet attended eight Torquay hotels and asked to book a room for one night, asking specifically for a double bed, to pay in cash and not provide ID.

Sgt Neil Powers said: “Unfortunately, only one hotel challenged the relationship between the police officer and the cadet and subsequently asked for ID, with the other seven hotels progressing the booking process.

“However, some hotel staff explained that they did feel a bit uncomfortable and felt that something wasn’t quite right.”

Police said the intention was to assess hotel staff’s understanding of what child exploitation could look like, how to recognise warning signs and what to do next.

The force said it wanted to educate people and was “not looking to embarrass staff”.

It added that the advice was relevant to many other types of businesses and said anyone could report concerns on its website.