The British government said on Sunday it would ask the policing agency that investigates serious and organised crime to help track down more people suspected of being involved in grooming gangs that sexually abused thousands of girls.

" (Casey's) position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry, over and above what was going on," Starmer told reporters on Saturday. "She has looked at the material she has looked at and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen.

The National Crime Agency will target grooming gang predators in a new operation, the Home Office says.