Telford police chief 'not playing down child sex abuse'

A senior police officer has denied 'playing down' reports on the scale of child sexual abuse in Telford.

A Sunday Mirror investigation found up to 1,000 girls in the Shropshire town may have been victims of grooming gangs since the 1980s.

But Supt Tom Harding of West Mercia Police said he did not recognise that figure. He said police and the local authority were were currently working with 46 young people aged between 13 and 19, who had been identified as being at risk.