TWO girls were abducted from social services care by older men, who plied them with ecstasy and alcohol and had sex with them.

Zulfar Hussain, 46, from Blackburn, and Qaiser Naveed, 32, from Burnley, were both jailed for five years and eight months for "exploiting" the vulnerable under 16s.

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Gilbart QC said: "This is a truly shocking offence. When young girls such as these are placed in care it can be because they need protection from themselves.

"They need nurturing. They need help."

After the case police said the men were detained as part of Operation Engage, which targets men who groom vulnerable young girls for sex.

And they praised the Keep Them Safe Campaign, launched by the Lancashire Telegraph last year, for raising awareness of the issue and the need for it to be tackled.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said the community needed to realise there was a problem and take a stand against it.

Julian Taylor, prosecuting, told the court that the girls were both in the care of Blackburn with Darwen Council social services.

The first lived at a children's home in Lancashire and the second had been placed with foster parents but - because of her persistent truancy - she was moved to a children's home in Wales.

The girls had become involved in sexual relationships with Hussain and Naveed - and they would often spend the night together at a house in Walter Street, Blackburn.

Mr Taylor said months later the first girl was picked up by Naveed and Hussain in the latter's BMW. The alarm was raised by social services after the girl was reported missing from her children's home.

Sally Barnes, a social services team leader, obtained a mobile phone number for Hussain and informed the men that the girl was under 16 and was officially missing, the court was told.

Hussain and Naveed were driving to Wales with the youngster, to pick up the second girl at an Asda store but the pair insisted that the girls were not with them, said Mr Taylor.

After they travelled back to Blackburn, Naveed had sex with the first girl on the back seat of the car while the second girl remained in the front of the vehicle with Hussain.

The girls were given ecstasy tablets throughout the night by the two men, along with alcohol, the court was told.

The BMW eventually ended up at the house in Walter Street. and while Naveed spent time with another older teenage girl, who they had picked up in Burnley, Hussain went on to have sex with the second girl.

Later she told police that she had felt uncomfortable about having sex with him and had called out to her friend because she was afraid of him.

Hussain, of Cowell Way, Blackburn, and Naveed, of Colne Road, Burnley, admitted abducting a child, sexual activity with the same child and supplying the youngsters with ecstasy.

They were ordered to sign the sex offender's register for life and banned for life from associating with girls aged under 16 for life.

The court heard that the immigration authorities were currently making efforts to deport Naveed, but not in relation to the current case.

After the hearing, Chief Inspector Alice Knowles said: "This case came about as part of the on-going partnership work with children's services and other agencies looking at sexual exploitation under Operation Engage, which in conjunction with the Lancashire Telegraph's Keep Them Safe campaign has helped us to raise awareness and encourage people to speak out about it.

"These girls were vulnerable and more susceptible to their grooming techniques of offering them drugs and alcohol."

Peter Morgan, the council's children services strategic director, said: "The sentences are a clear warning to others that they will be found and punished.

"Despite this, we are not complacent. We have said, and we continue to say, that the public need to be aware of this problem, and to take a stand against it."