Andy Couldrick, then head of childrens' social care at Oxfordshire County Council, complained about an officer who tried to trigger child protection measures to protect a 13-year-old he believed was at risk of abuse.

His complaint about a crime and neighbourhood nuisance officer’s emails and style led to the officer, who has not been named, being told that the county “did not like senior staff being criticised by a junior person.” The complaint, made in 2007, emerged in a damning report into the Oxfordshire council’s handling of child sexual exploitation in the city.

Mr Couldrick held his position at the council from 2006-2009 and has said he does not recognise the report’s 'picture of the concerns raised in 2007’.

He said: “The report does not paint a picture of the concerns raised in 2007 that I recognise entirely.

“The concerns appeared to relate to noise and nuisance at the property occupied by the young woman’s father. I consulted with her social worker, and the manager of the home in which she was living, and they in turn with Thames Valley Police officers.

“Our approach was to ensure she would be at home more often where she could be cared for and supported. Had we held a child protection conference then, the same key agencies that were already sharing information would have been brought together in a more formal meeting.

”The concerns were not ignored, but different decisions were taken. At this time, the periods she was missing were becoming less frequent. This led to us continuing with what turned out to be the wrong approach.” The officer who raised concerns was a former detective sergeant in child protection and tried to spark official action after witnessing “men going into the flat every night and leaving in the early hours of morning” and seeing the 13-year-old lying under a cover with an adult male, according to the report. The abusers were convicted of 25 offences against the 13-year-old in an Old Bailey trial in 2013, five years after the officer attempted to trigger child protection measures.

Mr Couldrick joined Wokingham council in 2009 as director of children’s services and was made permanent chief executive in 2012.

He has expressed his deep regret about the events.

“We did not understand this type of abuse and its scale at that time, and were focused on individual young people,” said Mr Couldrick.

“Like everyone else, I deeply regret that we didn’t have the correct information to enable us to see the patterns and the whole picture during this period. If we had, we could have done something about it and stopped it then and there.

“What happened in Oxfordshire was harrowing for the young victims. I’ve always been, and will continue to be, committed to protecting children from harm in order to help our most vulnerable.” The report published by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board on Tuesday, said: “This episode is one that agencies must learn from. In 2007-8, [an officer] repeatedly raised concerns…describing [the 13 year old’s] behaviour and associates which today would lead to a speedy recognition that something bigger might be happening, but which at the time led to rather harsh disregard and criticism.” A Serious Case Review into the grooming of girls in Oxford estimated 370 girls, some a young as 11, were likely to have been targeted for child sexual exploitation over 16 years describing the victims’ experience as an “indescribably awful” ordeal under the noses of officials who showed a “worrying lack of curiosity”.