MP renews calls for inquiry into 'extremely shocking' child sexual abuse allegations in Telford

The MP for Telford has renewed her call for an inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town, after it was estimated up to 1,000 children could have fallen victim to abusers there over a 40-year period.

It comes after an investigation by the Sunday Mirror which gathered allegations of abuse in the Shropshire town, said to include cases involving girls as young as 11 who were drugged, beaten and raped.

Telford's Conservative MP, Lucy Allan, has previously called for aRotherham-style inquiry into allegations of abuse.

She called the latest reports "extremely serious and shocking".

"There must now be an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford so that our community can have absolute confidence in the authorities," she told the paper.

The estimate of 1,000 potential victims calculated with the help of Professor Liz Kelly, from the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University, who reviewed the Mirror's figures.

Allegations reported to date back to the 1980s are said to have been mishandled by authorities, with many perpetrators going unpunished, while it is claimed similar abuse is continuing in the area.

It claims social workers, council staff and police all failed to take sufficient action to investigate cases of abuse.

Dino Nocivelli, a specialist child abuse solicitor, said the survivors deserved an enquiry.

Seven men were jailed in 2013 following Operation Chalice, a police inquiryinto child prostitution in the Telford area.

The paper says authorities were warned of the abuse a decade before Operation Chalice.

A spokesperson for Telford and Wrekin Council said they were treating allegations of child abuse as a "top priority".

They said: "Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a vile, evil crime. It's an issue right across the UK and has been for a long time.

"Telford will be covered by the national CSE review. We welcome this. Allagencies continue to work very closely together and this remains our toppriority."