7 March 2013 Last updated at 09:47 ET

Bournemouth Borough Council wants foster homes for 200 children

An initiative to find foster parents for 200 children in care has been launched by a Dorset council.

Bournemouth Borough Council's recruitment campaign aims to find 50 new foster carers in the town over the next two years.

Councillor Blair Crawford said children needed someone who could "provide the security and care they need at a vulnerable point in their lives".

He urged families, same sex couples and single people to apply.

"There are many myths about foster caring out there which can deter some in our community from considering themselves as a potential foster carer," he said.

The council aims to attract 25 foster carers in the first 12 months of the recruitment drive, rising to 50 within two years.

It says the process to become a foster parent should take no more than six months.