The new Snap Map mode on the app has been criticised (Picture: Getty Images)

Schools have warned parents the new Snapchat map feature could put their children in danger.

Officials are concerned ‘Snap Map’ could make it easier for youngsters to be located.

The feature shares a user’s exact wherabouts with their friends.

Park Primary, in Wirral, Merseyside, warned parents about the app’s dangers through a Facebook post.

It said: ‘Snapchat has a brand new feature that you need to take not of!

‘Parents, make sure you read up on the new update and inform your children.

‘Children can now share their exact location to all their friends on Snapchat.’

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Schools are worried children could be in danger (Picture: Getty Images)

The Liverpool Echo also saw a letter from Calderstones School, in Liverpool, which warned parents of similar threats.

The school’s headteacher Lee Ratcliffe wrote: ‘This feature of the Snapchat app does concern me personally and professionally.

‘I would encourage all parents and carers to remind their children that sharing their location on social media can be risky.’

He went on to list a number of ways children could be protected, including only sharing their location with someone they knew in person and also not adding strangers as friends.

Paula, who has an 11-year-old son, told BBC Breakfast she had no idea her son was using Snap Map and when she found out she was concerned.

She added: ‘I was a little bit worried about the fact that you could be pinpointed. Obviously there are predators, there are bullies.’

The NSPCC criticised Snap for not warning users it was about to launch the new location feature.

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Snap said in a statement: ‘The safety of our community is very important to us and we want to make sure that all Snapchatters, parents and educators have accurate information about how the Snap Map works.

‘We encourage all parents and teachers to visit our Safety Centre developed with safety experts to be better informed about Snapchat, and keep it safe and fun.

‘Snap also encourages users to visit our Privacy Centre to find details on what information Snapchat collects, and who has access to this information. This has been updated with information about Maps.’

It added the map feature was opt-in and was turned off by default.

You can switch it off by accessing Snap Map by pinching the screen while in photo capturing mode, and then pressing the settings option and tapping Ghost Mode.

There are two separate ways of sharing your location on Snap Maps.

The first is ‘My Story’, which can only be seen by friends, and the second is ‘Our Story’, which is shared to the public but is anonymous.

Meanwhile, police officers in the Paedophile Online Investigation Team have written to schools to warn parents of a live streaming app to that could be used by predators to sexually exploit children.

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