A man has been charged with multiple counts of rape following a child sexual exploitation investigation in Rochdale.

Osman Ali is accused of six counts of raping a child aged under 13, Greater Manchester Police announced this morning.

The 25-year-old, who is from Rochdale, is due to appear before magistrates today.

A man has been charged with raping a child aged under 13 in Rochdale, pictured in file photo

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'He has been remanded into custody to appear before Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court today.

'The charge comes following an investigation carried out by the multi-agency Rochdale Sunrise team into a report of child sexual exploitation made on 16 May 2017.'

The Rochdale Sunrise team includes workers from police, local councils and the NHS which advise children in the area.

They go into schools to raise awareness among youngsters of issues of sexual exploitation and other crime against children.