Eastern European immigrants 'illegally marrying underage girls' in Rotherham

The latest shocking revelation came in the town where government appointed commissioners have taken over the council.

Former deputy leader Emma Hoddinott admitted there are illegal brides in the town's large Roma immigrant community.

The Labour councillor admitted that underage marriage is an "issue" in Rotherham and added: "We have to work with police to tackle that and we have to work with the commissioners to make sure there are actions in place to tackle these issues.

"We need to get it right - we can't write off those girls because they are in that community."

But she was unable to say how many children in the town might be married to men already.

It is believed there are currently more than 200,000 Roma immigrants in Britain.

The marriage of girls under 16 is common in Roma communities where families follow the Gypsy code called Pachiv which encourages girls to wed soon after reaching puberty.

The code dictates that the head of the usually large family group is always obeyed and in some cases large sums of money can be involved when matchmakers seek out a suitable young girl for marriage.

Two damning reports into child sex abuse in Rotherham revealed that more than 1,400 young girls were groomed, trafficked and abused by gangs of men over a 16-year period.

Police and the town's Labour Council were accused of covering up the abuse.

The former Labour Roger Stone and other councillors quit and the ruling cabinet has now been fired and replaced by government appointed commissioners.