Multiple studies of kids as younger as 11 ‘being sexually abused in UK mini-marts’
Several complaints were reportedly made over the course of a decade suggesting child sexual abuse was being carried out in UK mini-marts, and children were being ‘lured’ with alchohol and cigarettes
The report states the council worker made repeated reports of ‘child sexual abuse’ in Dudley in the West Midlands.
A senior UK council employee made repeated reports of child sexual abuse to West Midlands authorities over a span of around a decade, according to a report published by the BBC.
The alleged complaints related to children as young as 11 being sexually abused in High Street mini-marts.
The BBC report claims to have seen internal Dudley Council documents first hand that show that reports were made regarding the alleged abuse on multiple occasions dating back to at least 2016.
The report also states that intelligence briefings made between 2019 and 2024 claim that some at risk children may have been offered drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
A West Midlands Police spokesperson reportedly initially said that “there is currently no evidence to substantiate these claims of child sexual exploitation (CSE) connected to shops in Dudley.”
However, the report claims that after being shown further evidence of the abuses, West Midlands Police updated their claim, instead saying: “We have a robust partnership approach to CSE and safeguarding in the borough and across the wider West Midlands. CSE is a serious crime, so we will always act on any information we receive.”
The report states that the council worker who made the reports repeatedly shared concerns in briefings with members of a child sexual exploitation safeguarding group, as well as the police.
As well as police, the group was reportedly made up of a number of council officers in charge of safeguarding as well as charities.
The report states that, according to the council worker, a child was ‘lure[d] to a flat’ after being given free cigarettes.
Concerns were also allegedly raised by the same council worker about one shop that was “operated by an organised crime group” and “target[ed] young women”.
The report also cites intelligence that apparently references Trading Standards being aware of “11-year-olds [that] were taken in one pop-up shop to an unknown location via vehicle to collect cigarettes and vapes.”
The shop was reportedly closed by Trading Standards after this alleged discovery.
The intelligence also apparently states that in 2025, Trading Standards requested that West Midlands Police “carry out foreign conviction checks, to see whether the suspects they were investigating had any… sexual offences against children”.
The report also states that last year a “law enforcement source” told the BBC that they had seen evidence of “children between 13 and 15 years old were . . . given vapes from shop workers in return for sex”
The BBC report stated that a cabinet member in charge of children’s service told them that they were “taking reports of child sexual exploitation seriously” and that they were “working closely with internal colleagues and partner agencies as part of the Dudley Safeguarding People Partnership.”
