MEMBERS of East Lancashire’s award winning child sexual exploitation team have travelled to Westminster to brief MPs on their work.

Staff from Blackburn with Darwen's Engage team were invited to share the workings of the scheme with the rest of the country.

Fabian Hamilton MP said he invited the team to the Houses of Parliament to help other areas in the country establish strategies for tackling the issue.

To date, the team has helped 793 victims and overseen 234 charges since it was established in March 2008.

The team is made-up of representatives from Blackburn with Darwen Council, charities and police and works to prevent, protect and prosecute those involved in child sexual exploitation.

Team manager Nick McPartlan said: "We talked about the benefits of supporting families and the effectiveness of multi-agency working. Our task is to undo what the perpetrator has done, with prosecution being the icing on the cake.”

Coun Maureen Bateson, the council's executive member for children's services, said: “Engage continues to be looked upon nationally as a beacon of success and best practice. We are happy to share our team's success with other areas to ensure those who are at risk or who are being sexually exploited are being helped and supported.”

The team's Lindsay Dalton, parent support worker for the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (CROP) and the Council's support worker Stacey McKenna-Seed delivered presentations on Tuesday.

Following the meeting, MPs were urged to visit Local Safeguarding Board chairs in their constituencies and ask how they are implementing national guidance and what steps they are taking to ensure parents’ views are taken into account.

Engage was launched in response to growing evidence of young girls being ‘groomed’ by older men and given drugs, alcohol and gifts in return for sex.

The Lancashire Telegraph first publicly uncovered the issue with the Keep Them Safe Campaign.