The battle against sexual groomers has taken another twist, says Greater Manchester’s police chief.

The predators have changed their tactics and are now targeting Eastern European teens and trafficking them into the region for sex, the M.E.N. can reveal.

Chief constable Sir Peter Fahy told how his detectives have begun to fight a new frontier in the war against grooming - as it was revealed some 180 men are currently under suspicion of child sexual exploitation across Greater Manchester.

A massive operation, codenamed ‘Doublet’ , comprising dozens of individual investigations across Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and Bury - has identified around 20 victims in cases going back six years.

The suspects are largely Asian men, it is understood.

Sir Peter said there was a suggestion other abusers had seen the Rochdale case - and begun trying new tactics.

That has included a ‘noticeable’ spike in the sex trafficking of 17 and 18-year-old girls - notably above the age of consent - from Eastern Europe, he said.

“We are seeing more cases, particularly involving Eastern Europeans ,and that’s been very marked in the last few months,” he said.

“There’s been some suggestion that the abusers have looked at the Rochdale case, seen a big issue that the girls were underage and are looking at Eastern European girls who are above age.

“These are very, very difficult investigations, because we don’t know if they are going to stay in the country and we have to deal with the laws of other countries.

“They tend to be the kind of girls lured over here with promises of work - and then finding they are being drawn into prostitution.”

Sir Peter Fahy defended his force’s record on child abuse after weeks of sustained criticism from outside bodies and MPs.

But he admitted he was struggling to get the officers he needs to tackle sex crime - partly due to the stress of the job.

He said: “I’ll be blunt with you.

“Getting officers to work in that field...who would want to be a social worker at the moment?

“The officers working in that field are under great pressure.”

But he said the issue was also down to cuts, adding that there had been a 60pc increase in crime offence reports over the last two years. “We have seen a huge increase in demand when we are in effect losing five officers a week,” he added.