Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced new government-backed local inquiries into grooming gangs, following mounting pressure for a national investigation.

The announcement came during her Commons statement this afternoon, addressing weeks of calls for action on child sexual exploitation.

Several Labour MPs, including those representing Rotherham, Rochdale and Liverpool Walton, had broken ranks with party leadership to demand a national probe.

The issue gained renewed attention after it emerged that safeguarding minister Jess Phillips had declined a request for government assistance with an inquiry in Oldham.