FIVE men have been charged with committing serious sexual offences against a child in East Lancashire.

The alleged offences, which include rape and indecent assault, started in 1997 when the girl was 12 and carried on until she was 17. The alleged offences took place in Accrington and Blackburn.

The men, from Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington — or in jail — have been released on bail to appear at Burnley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, December 29. They were originally arrested in May before being charged yesterday.

DCI Claire McEnery, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Public Protection Unit, said: “We have been working very closely with the alleged victim for a number of months since these matters came to our attention.

“Child sexual exploitation is one of the constabulary’s priorities. The team working on this inquiry is a specialist one set up to investigate allegations of historic sexual abuse. The team includes officers from the Public Protection Division, who are experts in dealing with vulnerable victims and working with partner agencies.

“We take allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and we would encourage people with any information about the sexual abuse of children, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge those concerns will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.”

Abbas Khan, 58, of Hubie Street, Burnley, has been charged with three offences of rape between June 15, 1998 and June 14, 1999 when the victim was 14, one offence of rape between June 15, 1999 and June 14, 2000 when the victim was 15, and nine offences of indecent assault between June 15, 1997 and June 14, 2000.

Eijaz Khan, 46, of Casterton Avenue, Burnley, has been charged with one offence of rape between June 15, 1997 and June 14, 1998 and eight counts of indecent assault between June 15, 1998 and June 14, 2000.

Javid Raza, 57, of Crosshill Road, Blackburn, has been charged with six offences of indecent assault between June 15, 1998 and June 14, 1999. Arif Nadeem, 37, of Craven Street, Accrington, and Amin Akhtar, 34, of HMP Forest Bank, are jointly charged with one count of rape between June 15, 2000 and June 14, 2001.

A 39-year-old man from Accrington arrested in May on suspicion of rape remains on bail until March.