Police officers investigating the child sex abuse scandal in Telford have revealed that courts orders against more then 20 suspects were discarded.

The victims of the abuse were failed because the cases were allegedly 'too much trouble'.

The horrified officers also believe that more convictions would have been made if the abuse cases in Telford were linked to each other at the time.

The officers revealed the 'huge' scale of the abuse, coming forward after Superintendent Tom Harding, of West Mercia Police, cast doubt on reports that victims could number 1,000.

It comes as West Mercia Police confirmed a 'small number of victims' have come forward in the wake of the reports.

The mother of Becky Watson (pictured) said she gave police a list of more than ten suspects but claims the list was handed back to her

One whistleblower told the Sunday Mirror: 'I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility at all.

'I wouldn't be surprised. It was the tip of the iceberg.'

The officers said police were overwhelmed by the scale of the abuse and that, in one case, a derelict building near Birmingham was filled with women that were abused by men brought in by mini buses.

They also said that they were frustrated that so few of the predators, predominantly from the town's Pakistani Muslim community, were jailed.

The officer said: 'At one point we had 70 cases and one victim had close to 100 offenders.

'Many officers were frustrated because the CPS was treating the cases as separate when we knew they were linked.'

The officers have come forward after Supt Tom Harding of West Mercia Police (pictured), disputed that the number of victims were more than 1,000

The mother of an abused girl who died supported the officers' claims after she revealed that she had given police a three-page list of suspects.

She also claimed that nothing was done with her list.

She said that her daughter and 13-year-old were in a car driven by abusers that was allegedly stopped by police before being allowed to continue.

In response, Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans denied court orders were stopped because they'd be too much work.

However, one of the whistleblowers said that police had 'lots' of people they suspected of abuse but didn't put them before court.

They said that the Sexual Risk Orders, which would cause suspects to be tightly monitored, were considered too much work.

The officer said: 'It would have been a lot of work but what price do we put on protecting these kids?'

Becky Watts is one of five people linked to the abusers who has died, including Lucy Lowe (pictured) who died in a house fire at the age of 16

The court orders were considered for suspects identified by cops as part of a 2012 investigation called Operation Chalice which saw just seven people jailed.

West Mercia's Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans explained that the orders were not pursued because they didn't want the victims to face their abusers in court, among other reasons.

These latest claims come after the mother of Becky Watson, 13, said she gave police a list of more than 10 abusers months before her daughter died in a car accident.

But she says the police handed the list back to her, leaving her angry and frustrated.

One staff member allegedly told her 'she's not being battered or anything like that'.

Becky Watts was among five people linked to the abusers who has died, including Lucy Lowe who died in a house fire alongside her mother and sister.