South Yorkshire Police have been accused of passing information from victims of the Rotherham child sex ring to the perpetrators. The fresh allegations come as the MP at the time, Denis MacShane, was accused of ignoring a five page letter detailing the abuse sent to him in 2009.

Two victims and their families have made two complaints against PC Hassan Ali, who was killed in a road accident on 28th January. They say he was close associate of the abusers (pictured) and that they were unable to keep Police informed about abuse because the intelligence was being passed on to the abusers by Ali.

Their claims were backed up by the group Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (PACE). It claims to have met with Home Office officials in 2003 to warn them the Police and Local Council could not be trusted with information about abuse. The group told the Yorkshire Post then sent the letter to MacShane, which he claims never to have received. But the letter has now been released by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

Notes from the time suggest the Home Office claimed to take the allegations of wrongdoing to David Blunkett, the then Home Secretary. Blunkett would have been well placed to look into the allegations as his Sheffield Brightside seat was within the South Yorkshire Police area and he would have had long standing contacts within the force. Despite that no action was taken, although it is unclear whether Blunkett himself ever heard of the allegations.

MacShane has always denied any cover-up and stood down as MP for Rotherham in 2012 having been accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses. He was later convicted and sent to prison for six months.

The latest allegations come after a disastrous few days for the establishment in South Yorkshire. First a report was published into failings at Rotherham Council, then the cabinet resigned shortly before the Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, effectively took all decisions out of the hands of the council.

Rotherham will now be run by centrally appointed commissioners, and power will only be returned to councillors after a full election in May 2016. UKIP is widely expected to win this election, ending decades of almost complete Labour dominance.

Officers at the council are expected to face criminal charges for their role in the cover-up and this may be followed by action against individual Police Officers.