A SCHOOLGIRL became pregnant six times in just four years in one of Britain’s worst child abuse scandals — as it’s claimed whistleblowers were punished for trying to expose the horror sex abuse.

As many as 1000 children are feared to have been drugged and abused in Telford, Shropshire, since the 1980s — but their hell went on for decades as authorities repeatedly failed to stamp out a network of paedophiles in the town.

The Mirror has now claimed that two whistleblowers — including police chaplain Keith Osmund-Smith and a worker with a sex abuse charity — were punished as they desperately tried to speak out.

The Reverend was suspended after passing information on to the news outlet about the scandal.

He has since returned to work, with police telling the media organisation: “An internal investigation was carried out and made a number of recommendations which we have worked with him to address.”

The second whistleblower won an out-of-court settlement, with Axis Counselling telling The Sun Online no one was available to comment on the claims.

The number of victims estimated by child abuse experts means there could have been more per head of population than in the scandals that rocked Rochdale and Rotherham in recent years.

Social workers were said to have known about the offending as far back as the 1990s, but it took police a decade to launch a probe.

One of the victims was just 15-years-old when she was targeted by abusers in 2004, becoming pregnant several times in four years.

She had three abortions and one miscarriage.

And it is claimed files show council staff regarded children who were abused and trafficked as prostitutes rather than victims.

Vulnerable Lucy Lowe was 16 when abuser Azhar Ali Mehmood, 26, set fire to her house, killing her, her mum Eileen and sister Sarah, 17, in 2000.

The taxi driver first targeted her in 1997. She was 14 when she gave birth to his daughter.

He was jailed for killing the teen, along with her mum Eileen and her sister Sarah, 17 — but was never arrested or charged over sex abuse.

Another victim, who was drugged and gang-raped, said Lucy’s killing was a warning to others who might speak out.

The schoolgirl, who remains anonymous, said she was driven to attempt suicide.

In 2002 another schoolgirl — Becky Watson, 13 — was killed in an unexplained car accident in the Shropshire town.

Despite the smash being recorded at the time as a “prank” gone wrong, it later emerged she had reportedly been abused by an Asian grooming gang since she was 11.

Becky’s friend Vicky Round was abused by the same gang, who got her hooked on crack cocaine at 12 and heroin by 14.

It is also claimed that social workers knew of the abuse in the 1990s but the police took a decade to launch an investigation, council staff viewed victims as “prostitutes”, and authorities failed to keep details of abusers from Asian communities for fear of “racism”.

Tory MP for Telford Lucy Allan demanded a public inquiry and said the ­findings were “extremely serious and shocking”.

Martin Evans, Assistant Chief Constable for West Mercia Police, told the Sunday Mirror that they’re boosting police numbers to tackle the “horrific offences is their number one priority ... whether that offending took place today, yesterday or decades ago”.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished with permission.