Police announced that arrests have been made in connection with an investigation into child sex exploitation (CSE) gangs targeting “vulnerable, underage” girls in Bury parks.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the case — codenamed Burgos — has been underway since June last year when officers received reports that children around Clarence Park and Openshaw Park were being plied with alcohol and drugs then sexually abused by groups of men.

According to the Bury Times, officers made the announcement in order to “reassure the public” after reports on social media accused authorities in the borough of covering up the exploitation of up to 50 children.

A spokesman for Bury Council said authorities in the town “are currently working with nine young people under Operation Burgos following the police’s investigation.

“We have support in place for those affected and will await the outcomes of police investigations,” he added.

While police declined to give any details on how many arrests were made and what for, Superintendent Rick Jackson said: “Tackling child sexual exploitation is a priority for GMP and we will continue to work closely with our partners to safeguard children and prosecute offenders.”

A report by think tank Quilliam has found that more than eight out of ten men convicted of grooming gang offences have an 'Asian' background, while victims are "almost exclusively white girls". https://t.co/WMYGngGPDf — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 10, 2017

The arrests come after similar scandals in the neighbouring borough of Rochdale, which involved networks of mostly Pakistani-origin men targeting overwhelmingly white, non-Muslim girls for sexual abuse and exploitation.

Breitbart London reported in December on research by counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam, which found 84 per cent of grooming gang convictions were for perpetrators of Asian origin, despite people from this demographic making up just seven per cent of the population.

Controversial activist Tommy Robinson was suspended from the Twitter micro-blogging platform this week for quoting this statistic, Twitter themselves arguing doing so violated their terms of service.