Calls for Blackpool to be included in grooming gangs inquiry
The leader of Blackpool Council’s Conservative group wants the town to be next under the spotlight
Last updated 25th Jun 2026
Blackpool must be next in line, a councillor says, as a major inquiry into grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation has this week named areas where the probes will begin.
Four locations have been confirmed in the Statutory Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, which will see local investigations and national public accountability hearings being held.
With Oldham, London, Bradford and Keighley being selected as the starting locations for Local Area Investigations, Cllr Paul Galley is calling for Blackpool to be included in the second tranche.
Cllr Galley, the leader of Blackpool Council’s Conservative group, says the town must be next, as the issues are strongly relevant to the resort in the wake of the tragic cases of 14 year old Charlene Downes and 15 year old Paige Chivers.
The councillor says those cases are “the tip of the iceberg” after he produced a shocking 36-page report on the scale of child sexual abuse in the town, which he released last year.
He followed this up last summer with calls for Blackpool to be included in the inquiries.
Despite several heated discussions about this, Blackpool Council did write to the Government to include Blackpool.
At Blackpool’s Full Council meeting last night, Cllr Galley said during a question time session: “The grooming gang inquiry has now named Oldham, London, Bradford and Keighley as areas being included and more will follow.
“This is an important step forward in these inquiries.
“My question is this – what step has Blackpool taken to ensure we’re one of the next areas?”
Cllr Neal Brookes, Statutory Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, told him: “We’ve already offered ourselves as an area.
“It’s up to the Government to decide where they address their concerns next.”
Coun Galley, who represents the Anchorsholme ward, said last year that he was genuinely appalled by the scale of the problem in Blackpool and that it was imperative the town was not left out of the inquiry.
His report said that between 2021 and 2024 there were 1,746 recorded sex offences against children in Blackpool, a figure he believed is the tip of the iceberg.
He also said the town had a disproportionately high number of registered sex offenders for a town of its size.
Issues of child sexual exploitation in the resort first surfaced during the Lancashire Police investigation into schoolgirl Charlene Downes, who disappeared in November 2003 and is believed to have been murdered.
No one has ever been convicted of that crime.
Paige Chivers was reported missing in 2007. Despite her body having never been found, she was officially declared dead following an inquest in 2016.
Robert Ewing was jailed for life for her murder in 2015 following a trial at Preston Crown Court. Ewing, described as a “devious paedophile”, died in his prison cell on November 4 2022, aged 68.