They have preyed on generations of vulnerable girls with the clamour for a tough crackdown now becoming deafening.

But while the vile activities of Britain’s grooming gangs in the early 2000s are horrifically all too well known, a key question is whether children today are also at risk.

I’ve spoken to one survivor Scarlett West, who broke free of her abusers in 2023. Sadly from her account it seems very little has changed.

She has given her first in-depth interview, alongside her campaigning father Marlon West, to a new podcast On The Case: The Grooming Gangs Scandal, which launches today.

Scarlett, now 19, spoke bravely and movingly about how a random incident at a bus station was to expose her in the clutches of abusers.

I spent the day at her family home listening, in mounting despair, to her harrowing account.

James Tozer has spoken to one survivor Scarlett West, who broke free of her abusers in 2023. Sadly from her account it seems very little has changed. Pictured: Aged 14

Scarlett, now 19, spoke bravely and movingly about how a random incident at a bus station was to expose her in the clutches of abusers. Pictured: Aged 14

Looking at cherished family photographs of a sweet young Scarlett sitting on her father’s shoulders, or caring for her horse Jasper, it was heartbreaking to know the ordeal that lay ahead of her.

The fact she remained in the clutches of the gangs as recently as two years ago suggests something remains badly wrong with how this country fails to keep vulnerable young girls safe.

Aged 13, Scarlett attended private school and was in all the top sets.

Just a year later, she had been expelled from school and was being trafficked to hotel rooms and given drink and drugs until she passed out.

Speaking on the podcast, her father, an advanced nurse practitioner from Hyde in Greater Manchester, told me how his desperate efforts to protect Scarlett were thwarted by inaction from police and social services.

For months, Mr West has been calling for a public inquiry into the scourge of the grooming gangs.

Scarlett, now 19, told how she was ferried around the north of England by grooming gangs, drugged and used for sex

The fact she remained in the clutches of the gangs as recently as two years ago suggests something remains badly wrong with how this country fails to keep vulnerable young girls safe

Aged 13 (pictured) Scarlett attended private school and was in all the top sets

Her father, an advanced nurse practitioner from Hyde in Greater Manchester, told me how his desperate efforts to protect Scarlett were thwarted by inaction from police and social services

For months, Mr West has been calling for a public inquiry into the scourge of the grooming gangs

Mr West last year met safeguarding minister Jess Phillips. However, she rejected his plea for a public inquiry, saying ministers were focusing on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

Scarlett’s father, Marlon West, pictured with former Victim’s Commissioner Vera Baird

Following an unexpected intervention from Elon Musk, pressure has been building on the Government – and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has finally announced a series of local reviews looking at the issue.

It comes after Labour MPs broke ranks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and joined Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch’s call for a new nationwide probe.

In their own words, Scarlett and Mr West tell how they believe that the nightmarish ordeal, which snatched away her childhood and almost wrecked their relationship, prove that is exactly what Britain needs.

Listen to Scarlett and Marlon’s shocking story on the podcast, On The Case: The Grooming Gangs Scandal. All three episodes are available now from wherever you get your podcasts.