Retired police officers held on suspicion of rape

The force said the men - from Bolton, Bury and Trafford - were all released on conditional bail

Five retired Greater Manchester Police officers have been arrested on suspicion of raping a vulnerable teenager in the 1960s.

Some of the officers are believed to have worked for a dedicated unit targeting the sex work industry, known as the VICE squad, based at the former Collyhurst police station in inner city Manchester.

The force said the complainant had been younger than 16 at the time the alleged offences began, while the suspects were now aged between 70 and 81.

Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker said: "No abuser is immune from justice and time is no barrier."

GMP said the men - from Bolton, Bury and Trafford - had all been released on conditional bail while the investigation, named Operation Salvador, continued.

Three of the arrests were made last month while two more were made in May.

'Needed protection'

One of the suspects, aged 77, is accused of raping the victim both when she was a child and an adult, while a 79-year-old is accused of raping her when she was a child.

The other three, aged 70, 74 and 81, are accused of raping her when she was an adult, while all five men are also suspected of misconduct in a public office.

ACC Parker commended the woman for coming forward.

"I'm sure the public will be as troubled as I am that five former officers are suspected of being involved in the abuse of a woman when she was a vulnerable child and adult who needed their protection," she said.

GMP said the woman, who was being supported by specialist officers, had been updated about the arrests.