But it was suppressed and the council tried unsuccessfully to sack her

Twelve new victims of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham have come forward since the publication last week of a devastating report revealing the abuse of at least 1,400 young people in the town, South Yorkshire Chief Constable David Crompton has revealed.

Mr Crompton told the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee that he now has 62 officers dedicated to dealing with child sex abuse, compared to just three in 2010 and eight in 2012.

And he said that 104 convictions had been secured since the start of 2013, while 40 more suspects were on bail. South Yorkshire Police are conducting nine 'multiple victim, multiple offender' investigations, including two in Rotherham, he said.

Speaking out: 12 new alleged victims have reported abuse in Rotherham. It comes after it emerged a researcher identified more 270 victims by mainly Muslim gangs in 2001 but was told not to tell anyone

Backlash: A Home Office researcher who wrote a report into the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham has told how she faced 'hostility' from the council. Pictured here is Rotherham Council's offices

Mr Crompton’s comments came after he announced an independent inquiry by an external police force into the South Yorkshire Police handling of sex abuse complaints over many years. Last week’s report by Professor Alexis Jay found that the authorities failed to respond adequately to complaints of abuse stretching over 16 years.

Home Secretary Theresa May was meeting Prof Jay after promising MPs that she would take action to bring perpetrators to justice and prevent the Rotherham scandal being repeated.

Mrs May revealed that Communities Secretary Eric Pickles is 'minded' to commission an independent investigation into Rotherham Borough Council following concerns of 'inadequate scrutiny by councillors, institutionalised political correctness and covering-up of information and the failure to take action against gross misconduct'.

Labour - which today suspended four members in positions of responsibility in Rotherham at the time of the abuse - pressed the Home Secretary to introduce a mandatory requirement to report concerns about child sex abuse, so that authorities do not feel they can 'turn a blind eye' to victims’ complaints.

Mrs May told MPs: 'Professor Alexis Jay's report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 is a terrible account of the appalling failures by Rotherham Council and by the police and other agencies to protect vulnerable children.

'It was a complete dereliction of duty.'

She went on: 'I am clear that cultural concerns, both the fear of being seen as racist, and the frankly disdainful attitude to some of our most vulnerable children must never stand in the way of child protection.

'We know that child sexual exploitation happens in all communities. There is no excuse for it in any of them. And there is never any excuse for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice.

'The abuse of children is a particularly vile crime and one this Government is determined to stop. We have made significant strides since 2010. We have important work under way.

'But we will learn the lessons from Professor Jay's report to make sure we are doing all we can to safeguard children and to prosecute the people behind these disgusting crimes.'

This week it also emerged a council researcher attempted to raise the alarm over sex abuse in Rotherham more than a decade ago - but was threatened, told to 'never, ever' repeat the allegations, and put on a diversity course.

Action: David Crompton, South Yorkshire Police chief constable, said the report was a 'huge wake-up call'

Protests outside Rotherham police station after it was revealed around 1,400 children were sexually exploited in the town over a 16-year period

An inquiry report released last week claims that at least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in the city between 1997 and 2013

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone resigned following the publication of Professor Alexis Jay's report report. Prof Jay is pictured here

The former Rotherham council researcher told the BBC's Panorama programme, under the condition of anonymity, that she identified more 270 victims of trafficking and underage prostitution by mainly Muslim gangs in Rotherham.

She said: 'And her other response was to book me on a two-day ethnicity and diversity course to raise my awareness of ethnic issues.'

The researcher said her data was taken during a raid on her office in the town and she was put under pressure to change her findings.

'I was subjected to most intense personal hostility,' she said.

'There were threats made from a range of sources. I've never seen back-covering like it and I still feel extremely angry about that.'

The report - based on interviews with underage girls seeking help from the council's anti-child prositution project, called Risky Business - was never published.

We know that child sexual exploitation happens in all communities. There is no excuse for it in any of them. And there is never any excuse for failing to bring the perpetrators to justice Home Secretary Theresa May

The council even tried unsuccessfully to sack the researcher after she resisted pressure to change her findings.

Data to back up the report's findings also went missing from the Risky Business office the weekend after she submitted her report, the researcher told the programme.

The council said last week that it could find no evidence of the alleged raid by council staff on one of their own offices to remove evidence of the extent of the town's sex abuse crisis.

The Panorama programme was screened almost a week after a shocking independent report forced the issue into the headlines.

South Yorkshire Police responded to the programme, saying: 'South Yorkshire Police is determined to bring offenders of child sexual exploitation (CSE) to justice and takes seriously allegations of sexual offences regardless of how long ago they took place.

'The force has increased officers working in CSE from 10 to 45 over the last year, which shows how seriously we take this crime and preventing young people becoming victims.

'A number of large-scale investigations looking at historical and current sexual offences in Rotherham are ongoing and involve a large number of victims.'

The force said it could not provide more details of these investigations at this stage.

It said: 'As a result of the release of the report we have begun to see a number of new reports about child sexual exploitation.

'The force interprets this as a sign of confidence amongst victims that the force, as it stands now, will take these matters seriously and investigate them fully.'

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for South Yorkshire Police to refer themselves to IPCC over failings in Rotherham

Staying in his post: Thousands of people including the Prime Minister have called for South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright (pictured) to step down

Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone resigned following the publication of the Jay report last week and a number of other high-ranking figures in Rotherham over the last 15 years have come under pressure to consider their positions.

South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner, Shaun Wright, who was the councillor in charge of children's services in the town between 2005 and 2010, has come under the most intense scrutiny but has insisted he is staying in his post until his term finishes in 2016.

Today it was revealed he is to give evidence on the Rotherham child sex scandal to a parliamentary committee.

House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz confirmed that he has agreed to give evidence on his role. No date for the public hearing has yet been announced.

Mr Vaz said: 'I have spoken to Commissioner Wright this morning and informed him that the committee will want him to give evidence as part of our inquiry, and he has agreed to do so.'

Prime Minister David Cameron, Home Secretary Theresa May and Labour leader Ed Miliband have all called on Mr Wright to quit as PCC following the report by Professor Alexis Jay, but the former Rotherham councillor says he will stay on in the £85,000-a-year post until his term ends in 2016.

Mr Wright has not given any interviews for a week but last night tweeted a link to his record on CSE as commissioner.

Home Secretary Theresa May was summoned to the House of Commons to answer an urgent question from Mrs Cooper on the affair today

Meanwhile, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for South Yorkshire Police to refer themselves to IPCC over failings in Rotherham.

Mrs Cooper MP said: 'A week after the devastating report into Rotherham, two months after an over-arching inquiry was announced and two years after we first called for this inquiry, it really is urgent to get it going.

We still have no chair, no expert panel and no fixed terms of reference. For the sake of children and young people the Government must stop dragging its feet on this and get this underway immediately.

'More also still needs to be done to follow up the report in Rotherham - including making sure there is much more support for the 1400 victims whose lives have been traumatised by the abuse.

'Action is still needed to pursue the abusers and criminals who have raped and traumatised so many young people.

South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable David Crompton (right), pictured with police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright, has commissioned an independent investigation into its handling of child sexual exploitation

'Although the Jay report has looked into the failings in Rotherham council, we still don't know why South Yorkshire Police failed young girls so badly.

'There is no doubt that South Yorkshire Police did not properly investigate all the allegations that were reported.

'Victims and the local community need to know that this will not happen again. The Chief Constable should refer his force to the IPCC for independent investigation of what happened.

'And it is further evidence that the IPCC isn't strong enough that it can't launch its own investigation. 'And we also need to know that proper action is being taken in the council and the police to hold people to account for serious failures.

'For the future, the law needs to be strengthened so that there is a mandatory requirement to report suspected abuse.

'And other towns and cities need to take a searching look at their own child protection. This is not just about Rotherham, Oxfordshire, Rochdale or Savile.

'The Children's Commissioner has made clear that too many victims are being ignored and child sexual exploitation is taking place everywhere across the country.'

Eight men arrested in raids over child sex claims

Eight men have been arrested in connection with child sexual exploitation following dawn raids on 10 properties.

Up to 120 Thames Valley Police officers searched addresses in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire at 7am today.

Six of the searches took place in Aylesbury, while the other four were made in Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Chesham and Middlesex, police said.

The offences relate to two female alleged victims in the Aylesbury area between 2005 and 2012, according to a force spokesman.

The men, aged between 28 and 45 have been arrested on suspicion of sexual offences and are currently in police custody, while searches of other properties continue, he said.

Acting Superintendent Olly Wright said: 'The police action taken today comes as a result of information given to the police earlier this year.

'We have been working closely with other agencies to investigate these matters, and to provide support and care for the victims.

'The aim of this operation is to protect victims, bring offenders to justice, and to offer help to any others who we are encouraging to come forward.

'We will continue to work alongside our partner agencies to offer any support victims need as we carry on with the investigation.

'I understand today's events will have an impact on the community and people will be concerned about the nature of these arrests.

'As you can understand, we are in the early stages of this investigation so may not be able to provide all the information straight away, but we will work hard to make sure the community is kept updated when we can.