SENIOR officials should be stripped of their honours after failing the victims of Operation Bullfinch, say campaigners.

There have been calls for Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Sara Thornton and Oxfordshire County Council chief executive Joanna Simons to lose their awards. Both women have CBEs and Ms Thornton also has a Queen’s Policing Medal.

Both organisations were heavily criticised in a Serious Case Review released last Tuesday into the sexual exploitation of young girls in Oxford.

The review found police and social workers had been aware of the abuse of girls since 2005 but had failed to pursue investigations or record it as a crime.

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Enough Abuse campaign founder Marilyn Hawes said: “The honours need to be removed because they have let down a whole army of children by not being on top of what was going on.

“That’s the thing about being in power, you have to accept responsibility for what happens on your watch.

“They have let down the people of Oxfordshire. They clearly aren’t the person who got the award, for they have failed.”

A friend of the Bullfinch victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “They should be stripped of their honours. Their job was to look after people and they failed.”

Both Miss Simons and Ms Thornton refused to comment.

Simon Danczuk, MP for Rochdale, Manchester, called for the same treatment for those involved in the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal. He said: “I think councillors and senior officers who have received honours for services to their relevant departments should have them removed. It’s what the public expect.”