There were 33 children referred to social services because of a risk of sexual exploitation in Redbridge, a report has found.

News agency Openworld and Channel 4 News published the results of 122 Freedom of Information requests earlier this month, in response to the Rotherham report, in which it said 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013.

Figures released by Redbridge council showed from July 2013 to July 2014, there were 33 referrals to social services of under 18s believed to be at risk of sexual exploitation in the borough.   

Three of the children are 13-years-old. 

The report detailed each case referred to the council, including a 13-year-old boy who was found to be in possession of large sums of money and had received explicit photos on electronic media.

Also, a 14-year-old girl was found to have had sex whilst intoxicated, which resulted in photographs being taken and shared on the internet.

Redbridge council has a social services multi-agency panel (MAP), made up of social care, police and health agencies, which comes up with a plan to respond to a child’s needs.

The council also recently launched a £82,000 partnership with police and children’s charity Barnardo’s, which will regularly visit care homes to identify areas that require improvement or support.

The funding, from central government, was in response to police revealing a sharp rise in the number of children being reported missing in Redbridge.

In the last financial year there were 1,219 children reported missing in the borough, compared 788 the year before.