Paedophiles are infiltrating senior child care positions in London boroughs, while police are struggling to detect them because of poor resources, according to a Scotland Yard report.

Detectives are starved of cash and too ill-equipped to tackle investigations properly, the findings of an internal Yard survey reveal.

The report by a senior detective says paedophiles are moving from borough to borough to avoid detection, while some have reached senior positions in the child care system.

It also questions if the Met is putting enough resources into tackling child abuse. The force is running 22 inquiries into serial sexual and physical abuse at children's homes in London but there are only 100 officers dedicated to protecting children.

The report was ordered last September by Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens, around seven months after the death of eight-year-old Anna Climbie.

The internal inquiry by Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Kelleher claims the Yard's specialist paedophilia unit is not equipped with a major incident room and its staff are not trained to use the police's national computer database.

Scotland Yard said there had been a major shake-up in child protection teams last year.

Used courtesy of the London Evening Standard