Suffolk police are reviewing a 20-year-old investigation into child abuse after several former boarding school pupils made assault allegations spanning the 1980s.

Detectives are contacting former pupils of Kesgrave Hall school for troubled boys following a Guardian investigation into the alleged abuse.

Ten ex-pupils of the school, near Ipswich, told the Guardian they suffered a spectrum of abuse, including two who alleged that they were sexually molested by members of staff.

The Suffolk force was urged to reopen its 1992 investigation by a number of the former pupils and Tory MP Daniel Poulter, who said he was "extremely concerned" by the allegations.

Police detectives interviewed at least 30 Kesgrave Hall pupils in 1992 as part of the joint investigation with Suffolk social services.

The fresh review could lead to police reopening the investigation and re-interviewing alleged victims and suspects.

A spokesman for Suffolk police said: "Suffolk police has retrieved papers from our storage facility in relation to an investigation carried out in 1992 in relation to complaints of abuse at Kesgrave Hall boarding school and we are at an early stage of reviewing the information.

"We encourage anyone who has been a victim of abuse to contact police and would like to reassure them that their complaints will be taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly."

No charges were ever brought after the inquiry, which spanned several months in 1992. Four members of staff were temporarily suspended and received psychiatric help.

The Kesgrave Hall assault allegations added to growing calls for David Cameron and the home secretary, Theresa May, to open a wider public inquiry into child abuse at care institutions across the UK.

Cameron has announced two inquiries into an alleged paedophile ring in north Wales in the 1970s and 1980s, but former children's minister Tim Loughton has called for a wider investigation.

Loughton said earlier this month: "I've called for an overarching inquiry going back to the 1980s and before into child abuse, involving schools, young offenders institutions and other places as this [abuse claims] is going to go on and on.

"This story [Kesgrave Hall] would be covered by that umbrella."

Alexander Hanff, an ex-pupil who alleged that he was sexually assaulted by staff at the school, said: "I am relieved that the police have agreed to reopen the investigation but I am concerned that they seem to have lost all the evidence they collected back in 1992 and further concerned that it will be difficult after such a long time to collect enough evidence for further action."