AN independent inquiry has been launched after it was revealed 624 children were victims of grooming in Lancashire in the last year.

The Home Office has said it will “leave no stone unturned” in its bid to tackle child sexual grooming after it was reported that nearly 18,700 minors nationally were exploited over the same period, according to local authorities. That figure was up from 3,300 five years ago.

The inquiry into institutional responses to child sexual exploitation by organised criminal networks will see public hearings opened in spring.

A joint statement from Lancashire Police and Lancashire County Council said: “We have been recognised nationally in leading the way with innovative methods in tackling child sexual exploitation, however we are not complacent and it remains a strong priority.

“We acknowledge that some areas of the county are more at risk of CSE and we will continue to work with our partners to protect children, prevent child abuse, help victims and target offenders, ultimately bringing them to justice. The public quite rightly expects us to protect children from being exploited, particularly as new threats emerge such as online grooming through gaming and chat forums, an area highlighted through a recent awareness week which we promoted.

“Our dedicated teams of officers are working every day with young people who are being exploited to firstly get them to recognise they have been or are being exploited, and to find ways of helping them to break free from the position they find themselves coerced into.”

A Home Office spokesman said the department launched the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse “to get to the truth, expose what has gone wrong and learn lessons for the future”.

He added: “The inquiry operates independently of government and, within its terms of reference, decides for itself what it investigates. The inquiry is investigating institutional responses to child sexual exploitation by organised criminal networks with public hearings set for the spring of 2020.”

In September, the NSPCC reported grooming crimes recorded in Lancashire have quadrupled in the last year.