'Your help is vital to keep kids safe from abusers'

MEMBERS of the public are being urged to play their part in helping to protect children from the dangers of grooming and exploitation.

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They are being urged to look out for the telltale signs that youngsters may be being targeted by abusers.

These include unaccountably having new clothes or phones, or associating with older children or adults to whom they seemingly have no connection.

The advice has come from PCSO Megan Rogers, who helped to protect 15 children at risk of exploitation.

Her efforts earned her the Excellence in Performance accolade at this year's Staffordshire Association of Women in Policing Awards.

She said: "The most valuable thing I have learned by working to protect children is how vital public information is.