Thousands of foster children face having to move home several times a year, a Christian charity has found.

Action for Children, which has its roots in the Methodist Church, conducted a Freedom of Information request on the issue.

Nearly one in three foster children in the UK move home two or more times between April 2015 and March 2016, it found.

This affects their social skills, educational outcomes and employment prospects - impacting on their behaviour as well as emotional and mental health.

The charity's launched an urgent appeal to find thousands of new foster carers who can offer children a safe, stable and loving home at the earliest possible opportunity.

Sir Tony Hawkhead, Chief Executive of Action for Children, said: "We know of children as young as four who have had to move three times in less than a year before finding a stable family home.

"For children in care, moving home means more than fitting into a new place - it means leaving behind family, friends, school and everything that is familiar to start over again.

"It is impossible to imagine what this must be like for a child or young person, who has already had the toughest start in life, to have to move several times a year until they find the right foster carer."