A desperate father says the system has failed to protect his 14-year-old daughter from being groomed at the hands of a paedophile ring operating in Keighley.

The father of three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had watched in despair as his young daughter deteriorated from a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl into a sombre, scared shell in less than six months.

He said the reason was that she had become a victim of sexual grooming by a gang of men who he, the police and Social Services seemed powerless to stop.

“I am at the end of my tether,” he said. “Why can’t we protect our own children from these people?”

His nightmare began last December when an official at his daughter’s school rang to express their concerns.

“They said that they were worried my daughter had been seen getting into cars at the end of school with groups of Asian men,” he said. “When I approached her about it, she denied it but her friends showed me her Facebook page, which contained references to cocaine and cannabis and as you can imagine alarm bells started to ring.”

The father immediately contacted the police but after little visible progress as time went on he began to collate his own evidence about the gang.

“All the members have two names, their real names and ones that begin with ‘Gangster this’ and Gangster that’, he said.

“My daughter is not allowed a mobile phone but I found out that they had given her two and I have read threatening messages sent to her.

“I confiscated them and banned her from using the Internet but now she has started running away and I have to frequently report her missing to the police.”

After being seemingly powerless to stop his daughter from being victimised by the gang, the father contacted Social Services, who he is in constant contact with along with the police.

“I asked for her to be put in protective custody but they told me that wherever they send her, Glasgow or London, the gang would still get to her,” he said.

“They then told me that all the protective custody places were full but my daughter is 14, she should be a priority, that is not good enough for me.”

Instead, Social Services gave him a black diary to write down when events took place along with a piece of paper entitled Ten Top Tips to help when your child is a victim of grooming.

He said: “I thought that was laughable. A complete joke.

“Everyone I speak to says I have been badly let down by the system and I agree.

“Why won’t anyone do anything to help her?

“I have done everything by the book, I have done everything I can and things have gone from bad to worse. I want it to stop.

“Now I want to warn other parents to be aware of what is going on out there and the fact that the law needs to change in order to prosecute these people.”

The father added that he was in contact with new Conservative Keighley MP Kris Hopkins about the issue.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Airedale and North Bradford police are currently investigating an allegation of grooming concerning a 14-year old girl from the Keighley area.

“This investigation is very much ongoing and is something that West Yorkshire Police, as well as our partners in the local authority, take extremely seriously.”