Abuse was systemic and unfettered, and ignored by relevant authorities

Last year it was revealed gangs of mostly

It follows damning report which said town council is 'not fit for purpose'

Labour MP Sarah Champion, who represents the South Yorkshire town, said she now thinks the figures in the Jay Report may be an underestimate

Sex gangs are continuing to prey on vulnerable young girls in Rotherham despite last year's damning revelations of systemic and sustained abuse of more than 1,400 girls, the town's MP has claimed.

Sarah Champion, the town's Labour MP since 2012, has revealed recent publicity had prompted many women to come forward to speak to her about how they had been abused, with around 10 percent of them describing new incidents.

It comes just weeks after a criminal investigation was launched into a damning new report that found Rotherham Council was 'not fit for purpose' and still 'in denial' about the 1,400 young girls who were abused in the town over 16 years.

Investigators concluded girls as young as 11 were left to be abused by mainly Asian men between 1997 and 2013 because the council's staff and politicians feared being labelled racist.

Ms Champion told The Times: 'It is still going on, absolutely.

'It's usually young women who've read about this and recognised that this is what happened to them, but it's also young girls who are still involved.

'They're scared, they don't know what to do and they're asking for advice.'

The MP has been vocal in her condemnation of South Yorkshire Police and the Rotherham Council's past conduct.

This, she told the paper, had led to her becoming a target of intimidation within her own party, and she claimed there were people trying to bully and undermine her, as well as campaign against her.

The abuse scandal in Rotherham is considered one of the worst in Britain's history with experts estimating that 1,400 girls fell into the clutches of paedophiles.

The damning report, released earlier this month, was written by Louise Casey, director-general for troubled families at the government's Communities Department.

She found the council had a 'deep-rooted' culture of sexism and bullying where it would 'shoot the messenger' and sought to force whistleblowers into silence or pay them off.

Inspectors also found the council 'goes to some lengths to cover up information' and said that children in the town were still at risk of abuse.

A council researcher claimed files detailing failures in tackling abuse in the town were stolen from her office and never recovered.

A report by Professor Alexis Jay last August revealed how some 1,400 vulnerable girls had been subjected to rape, violence and trafficking by gangs of mainly Asian men in Rotherham (pictured) between 1997 and 2013

In October 2014 a Home Affairs Select Committee report called for an urgent investigation into the allegation.

The committee added that the council and South Yorkshire Police ignored 'compelling evidence' about the scale of the abuse.

The report said South Yorkshire Police also failed in its role to protect victims, turning a blind eye to their plight and in many cases holding them responsible.

Police were said to be aware that a victim was 'raped with a broken bottle' and some girls were 'ordered to kiss perpetrators' feet at gun point' but never took any action.

In one case an officer told a victim: 'Don't worry- you aren't the first girl to be raped by XX and you won't be the last'.