A woman has spoken of how uniformed police officers allegedly "stood guard" while a politician sexually assaulted her as a young girl.

Waiving her right to anonymity, Esther Baker, 32, told Sky News that she was abused at various locations by different men in Staffordshire.

She believes that among the people who assaulted her were a politician, a Lord and a judge, and described the political figure as "one of the core members".

"He was in there quite often – I was one of his favourites," she said. "I used to play the piano and he was quite taken with that… there were different houses."

Staffordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Jon Drake said officers were in the "early stages" of investigating the case and were interviewing Baker.

"We are determined to thoroughly gather any evidence which will allow us to bring those who may have been involved to justice, while taking a sensitive approach to supporting the victim throughout."

Police have investigated 1,433 suspects in their probe into alleged historic child abuse allegations against VIPs, including politicians, celebrities and institutions in Britain.

Operation Hydrant, set up by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), revealed the figures last week, among which are 261 people of "public prominence".

Of these figures, 135 are in the television, radio of film industry, 76 were listed as politicians, 43 are from the music industry and seven were involved in sport.