PUB security guards, hotel staff and members of the public should be urged to help spot signs of child sexual exploitation in the District - a meeting of Council bosses have been told.

This morning Bradford Council's Executive discussed a highly critical review into child sexual exploitation in Bradford over the past 20 years.

The report, published last month, detailed how five children in Bradford, four girls and a boy, had been let down by numerous services and had suffered sexual abuse as a result.

It was the first Executive meeting since the report was published, and Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe described the findings as "horrific."

Two of the young people referred to in the report were abused almost 20 years ago. The other three were more recent cases. All cases showed how bodies from the Council to police had missed chances to recognise that these children were suffering from sexual exploitation.

Cllr Hinchcliffe said one things that stood out from the report was the attitudes of those dealing with abuse victims in the past. She said: "Some of the attitudes from 15 years ago were shocking."

She said the Council would do all it could to better tackle the issue and protect the District's children in the future.

Review lifts lid on child sexual exploitation in Bradford district

The meeting heard that one change in how the issue was dealt with over the years was the changing perception of victims.

In the past children who were groomed were often referred to a child prostitutes. In more recent years there has been a greater recognition that they were instead victims of sexual exploitation.

Councillor Sue Duffy, Executive for Children and Families, said sexual exploitation "demonstrates the worst of human behaviour," and pointed out that the report highlighted how children of different backgrounds, ethnicities and genders were targeted.

Jane Booth, the independent author of the report, said although the cases showed that the way sexual exploitation was dealt with had improved over the past two decades, there was still much to be done to keep children safe.

She said: "The stories in this report show the dreadful damage caused to young people by people who are prepared to exploit children."

She said a number of cases of CSE are still to come to court - but this should be seen as a sign that the issue is finally being taken seriously.

She added: "Nothing we do will obliterate exploitation, and the blame lies with the people who do it. But this report is about what we all can to to mitigate these crimes."

Ms Booth said while much responsibility for children's safety fell on bodies like the Council, health services and police, the wider community could also help tackle sexual exploitation.

She said: "We need people to be our eyes and ears, particularly people working in the night time economy, people like security guards.

"We need to help people spot the signs of exploitation. We want to extend this awareness to people who work in hotels and similar businesses.

"People are still quite reserved about reporting something. If people see something that doesn't look right - it might be they see a child with someone who they shouldn't be with or at a place they shouldn't be, it is important they report it. It might be the last piece of the jigsaw police need.

"If a child is starting to drink or use drugs, that could be a sign. They might all of the sudden have more money, or a phone that they didn't have before.

"We'd love to say we've got this sorted, but it is unrealistic to think we could ever eradicate this type of exploitation."

She said it was important all organisations involved in keeping children safe completely changed their attitudes to safeguarding, and did not just see the issue as a box ticking exercise. She added: "People will say 'we've done a training course.' That doesn't tell you anything has changed. We won't give up until we see evidence of this change."

Councillor Rebecca Poulson, leader of the Conservatives on Bradford Council, said: "When reading about these cases you can't help but be appalled.

"As a Council we have allowed basic mistakes to happen. In recent cases key warning signs were missed. How can people not have seen the key signs of what was happening."

She also questioned the urgency with which the Council was dealing with the issue.

The agenda to the meeting had said the Executive would receive a further update on the issue in November. Cllr Poulson said: "It is another delay coming down the line."

Cllr Hinchcliffe said the November report was a document the Council received every November, and changes were already been made to improve safeguarding.