A Home Office researcher feared for her life after being threatened by police officers over her attempts to expose widespread sex-grooming in Rotherham, MPs were told yesterday.

A parliamentary inquiry was told that South Yorkshire police officers may have conspired to cover up evidence of their systemic failure to protect hundreds of vulnerable victims.

The National Crime Agency, known as the “British FBI”, is likely to be sent to the town to investigate the allegation, the force’s chief constable told MPs last night. Detectives from the agency will also be asked to discover who ordered a weekend raid on Rotherham council offices in 2002 that led to the removal of the researcher’s case files.

MPs told David Crompton, chief constable of the South Yorkshire force