Michelle Scrogham MP for Barrow and Furness has continued to support the inclusion of Barrow in the Independent Grooming Gangs Inquiry as first areas announced.

The Independent Grooming Gangs Inquiry has published their local area investigation with Oldham, Bradford and Keighley, and London as the first areas of specific local investigations.

The Inquiry will also review whether institutions and individuals in other areas which have already had reviews into grooming gangs, such as Telford, Rochdale, Oxford and Rotherham, have implemented the changes recommended to them following those previous investigations.

Barrow and Furness MP, Michelle Scrogham said: “I have been clear that I support the inclusion of Barrow-in-Furness as an area for local investigation.

“This has been an issue that has impacted Barrow, resulting in the conviction of the Miah brothers in February last year.

“These cases demonstrate that grooming and organised abuse have taken place in the town, and they underline the need for a thorough examination of the crimes and the responses of institutions to them.

“I have today written to the inquiry to once again ask for Barrow to be included in the investigation.”

Further local areas will be announced later this year, guided by the criteria for local investigations, and any further evidence it receives.

The Inquiry will also investigate those areas which have already had a previous investigation through other inquiries, to examine their progress on implementing recommendations.

Panel member Zoe Billingham CBE, said: “These are the first three local area investigations – more will be announced as the Inquiry progresses.

“We will continue to follow the evidence wherever it leads, gathering and analysing evidence from across England and Wales, including from areas not yet selected for a local investigation.

“We will be forensic in examining what happened in these areas – how institutions responded, why children were not protected, and why opportunities to prevent harm were missed.

“We will look at what was known, how decisions were made, and why earlier action that could have protected children did not happen.

“We will look at the role culture, ethnicity and religion may have played in the decisions that were taken, and whether some in authority were too squeamish to act.”

Barrow has been involved in grooming gang reports with the Miah brothers, Shaha Amran Miah, Shaha Alman Miah, and Shaha Joman Miah, convicted of child sex offences that occurred between 1996 and 2010.

As well as the Eleanor Williams case which was the focus of a Sky News podcast called Unreliable Witness and a future documentary The Lie That Exposed The Truth.