The author of a damning report on Rotherham's failure to tackle monumental levels of child sexual exploitation has told MPs that its police force should face the same level of scrutiny over their "failure".

Louise Casey found a council in denial about how more than 1,400 children had been subjected to rape, violence and trafficking by gangs of mainly Asian men.

The Government later replaced the local authority's political leadership with commissioners.

Ms Casey told Commons Communities Committee she believed South Yorkshire Police's failures in relation to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny.

She added: "South Yorkshire Police more generally, need to look at their failure to the victims of Rotherham, full stop.

"Every member of staff that we asked to see had to see us or else we would infer something negative. We could look at any document we wanted to look at. We left no stoned unturned. We took much longer than I know colleagues wanted us to because we wanted to be utterly thorough.

"In my view that same scrutiny has not happened with South Yorkshire Police."

Ms Casey said some police officers had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission so their actions in relation to Rotherham exploitation allegations could be investigated.

She described it as "too easy a solution."

Ms Casey added: "The police have to step up and accept the same level of responsibility to those victims and those perpetrators as the local authority.

"We were asked to inspect Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and we left no stone unturned. It's a pretty thorough and damning report. The same level of scrutiny has not happened ... to the police in Rotherham over that time."

Asked if that should now happen, Ms Casey said: "In my view it should happen, yes."

The Casey report criticised a council which it said had a culture of bullying, "misplaced political correctness" and silencing whistleblowers who tried to speak out.