The Govanhill area of Glasgow, part of the first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency, is one of Scotland’s most deprived communities

Children are being forced into prostitution in one of Scotland’s most deprived communities, a Times investigation has revealed.

Specialist agencies, social workers, community representatives and residents say that Roma children are being sold for sex by parents and relatives in Govanhill, in the south of Glasgow. They say that the practice has been going on for more than a decade but, as was the case in Rotherham and Rochdale, they believe that a blind eye has been turned by the authorities because of “cultural sensitivities” and fears of being branded racist.

Residents said that they regularly encountered girls and boys propositioning people walking through the streets at night. The Times witnessed one young heavily made-up Roma girl close to a pub in the central area