The brutal practice of beating girls’ chests with hot irons to stop their breasts growing has been described as ‘endemic’ in some British communities.

More and more girls in the UK are being abused through the horrific practice of ‘breast ironing’, in an attempt to disguise the onset of puberty.

Ministers are being warned of a rise in the number of breast ironing cases, which is done with the sole intention to make girls less attractive to men.

Breast ironing is widespread in Cameroon and other African countries and affects around 3.8 million teenagers in total according to the United Nations.

Large stones, a hammer or a spatula heated over hot coals are used to compress or mutilate the breast tissue.

The girls are put at risk of tissue damage and cysts and in extreme cases it can cause one or both breasts to disappear.

Conservative MP Jake Berry is urging the government to act on the abuse that has now reached Britain and will bring it up in a Commons debate on Tuesday.

In an interview earlier this month, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen said it was a ‘hidden form of abuse’, often committed by’ some of the closest family members’.

He said: ‘The nearest thing I can compare it to is female genital mutilation (FGM), which we believed wasn’t happening in this country until people started to talk about it and raise awareness of it

‘People gained more confidence to come forward and say ‘I was a victim of this form of abuse’ – and I believe breast ironing is similar.’

Mr Berry has been working with a women’s charity who had spoken to victims of breast ironing.

In one particular case, a woman in Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of carrying out breast ironing on her own daughter, but was released because ‘that was her culture’.

The MP is calling for police to be given the same powers they were given to stamp out FGM.

According to research, 15 per cent of police forces are unaware of the practice while 38 per cent admitted they required more guidance to tackle it.

Human rights campaigner Mandy Sanghera said: ‘In 58 per cent of cases the girl’s mother is the abuser. We need to raise awareness of such cultural practices.

‘We need to talk about the impact on young women’s self esteem. We need teachers, police to take such crimes seriously.

‘Just like FGM and other cultural practices are often done abroad. We need to be more aware and prepared to challenge it.’