SENIOR detectives will meet a child abuse charity this week to discuss a supposed paedophile ring in Falkirk a number of decades ago.

Charity Open Secret has alleged that 367 people from the area had contacted it concerning abuse which occurred in the 1970s.

In a report in the Sunday Times, it claimed that it had strong evidence of one large paedophile network operating in the area, including the names of abusers.

Janine Rennie, chief executive of Open Secret, said: “Our information indicates a high level of reported multiple abusers in Falkirk, in one area in particular. The number of people in Falkirk who have come forward is shocking.”

Police Scotland were not able to confirm the number the charity had collected and said that evidence on abusers names or the names of victims had yet to be passed to them.

It is alleged in the article that it had been flagged to police in 2014 but it failed to spark a full investigation, however Police Scotland said no personal details were shared, so there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal investigation.

Police investigations into cases such as Jimmy Savile are believed to have encouraged people to speak out about historic abuse. Mr Rennie said the number of people who have contacted the charity had risen sharply since the Savile case emerged.