Rochdale's Labour MP accused police yesterday of allowing a local sex-grooming gang to flourish because of officers' class snobbery against young girls from council estates.

MP Simon Danczuk said officers' attitudes to victims' backgrounds was one of a catalogue of failings by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and other agencies in their handling of the scandal, highlighted in the Serious Case Review published yesterday.

The publication of the review comes more than 18 months after nine men were convicted of the systematic grooming and sexual abuse of six girls in Heywood and Rochdale in 2008 and 2009.

The report said that the use of untrained CID officers to investigate child sexual exploitation cases was a significant concern.

It also acknowledged there was a clear knowledge gap and that "a lack of response to the young people was in part a result of discriminatory attitudes towards them."

Mr Danczuk said: "This highlights exactly the concern I raised earlier this year when I said there needed to be a change of culture within GMP in tackling child abuse.

"I have also said judgements were made against young people on council estates because of their background and class, and this report confirms this."

Mr Danczuk pointed out that despite one girl having 40 separate child protection conferences police were not involved in any of them.

Report author Sian Griffiths, an independent social worker, argues "this represents a serious weakness for the police" and that concerns around police attendance were raised back in 2009.

In all at least 17 different agencies came into contact with the girls yet no action was taken, exposing what Mr Griffiths said were "fundamental problems and obstacles at a strategic level in Rochdale."

Mr Danczuk said it was time to stop "endless inquiries" and for the police and the local council social services to get on with doing their job properly.

He said: "It's time now to see the frontline changes that are desperately needed. Young people continually tell me they do not trust the police and we need to see strong leadership to start rebuilding this trust.

"This report shows that policies, culture and attitudes within many agencies were actively unhelpful when dealing with victims of child abuse and that's why we have to see a very different approach."