Four men have been jailed for a total of almost 40 years after police uncovered a child grooming gang in Rochdale.

The men, who collectively face 37 years behind bars - have now been as part of Operation Doublet - an major GMP investigation into child sexual exploitation in the town.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard how the group exploited two girls aged 15 and 16 at the time of the offences - almost a decade ago.

The group were convicted after a trial and were sentenced on Friday.

Irshad Wani, 39, of Whitworth Road, Rochdale was sentenced to nine years for seven counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of child grooming.

Gul Zaman, 44, of HMP Manchester, was sentenced to 10 years for rape and inciting a child into prostitution.

Mohammed Ishaque, 57 of Denton Street, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in prostitution and was sentenced to eleven years in prison.

Shohaib Shabbir, 29, from Oldham, was found guilty of rape and sexual activity with a child and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

The men were arrested and charged following a 2011 investigation by police into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.

Speaking after the case, Det Chief Insp Jamie Daniels, the senior investigating officer for Operation Doublet, praised the two victims for their bravery.

He said: “We identified a number of cases across Greater Manchester where teenage girls had been sexually exploited by older men.

“The victims have shown enormous courage and without their support in what has been a difficult investigation, we would not be here today.

“Working with our partners we have been able to identify vulnerable people and tackle child sex exploitation in a way that puts the victim’s wellbeing at the centre of all we do.

“I’d particularly like to pay tribute to Dete Con Fitzsimons in driving this case forwards on behalf of the victims.

“We made a commitment to bring perpetrators of sexual abuse to justice and this is yet another illustration of that promise being realised.”