Three members of the Rochdale grooming gang face possible deportation to Pakistan after being stripped of their British citizenship.

Taxi drivers Abdul Aziz, Adil Khan and Abdul Rauf were among nine men jailed for the appalling abuse of vulnerable teenage girls in 2012.

Three years ago Theresa May, then Home Secretary, ruled that all three, from Rochdale, should have their names deleted from the roll of British citizens.

The trio, all of whom have British children, challenged the decision, claiming it violated their human right to a family life.

But senior judges at the Court of Appeal have now ruled that stripping them of citizenship is ‘conducive to the public good’.

Lord Justice Sales said the gang’s abuse amounted to ‘serious organised crime’, adding: “They were motivated by lust and greed.”

Mrs May’s conclusion that it was not in the public interest for them to remain British was ‘reasonably open to her’, he ruled.

“The crimes were plainly very serious and there was a sufficient element of organisation in the way they were committed to justify characterising the offending as participation in serious organised crime,” he added.

(Image: PA)

The judge who jailed them at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2012 said victims were ‘raped callously, viciously and violently’.

He added: “All the men treated the girls as though they were worthless and beyond all respect.”

The gang – eight of Pakistani origin and one from Afghanistan – groomed children as young as 13, with police believing there could have been up to 47 victims.

They gave their victims drink and drugs before ‘passing them round’ for sex.

The abuse took place at two takeaway restaurants in Heywood.

In some cases the girls, aged in their early teens, were raped and pimped out to paying customers in Rochdale and Oldham.

Aziz, Khan and Rauf were all found guilty of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16 and trafficking for sexual exploitation following a trial.

Aziz, of Armstrong Hurst Close, who was one of the ringleaders of the gang and referred to by some of the others as The Master, was jailed for nine years.

Married father-of-five Abdul Rauf, of Darley Road, who was also a Muslim preacher, was jailed for six years and Khan, of Oswald Street, for eight years.

Lord Justice Sales said that, if deportation orders are signed against them, the men - who have dual British and Pakistani nationality - will have the right to appeal on human rights grounds and that process is likely to take ‘many months’.

A Home Office spokesperson said after the Court of Appeal's ruling: “This was an appalling case - which is why we took action to deprive these criminals of their UK citizenship. We welcome the court’s finding and will now consider next steps.

“Citizenship is a privilege, not a right, and it is right that the Home Secretary can deprive an individual of their citizenship where it is believed it is conducive to the public good to do so.”