SENIOR councillors last night vowed to urgently look into allegations Oxfordshire County Council worked with a “radical” Islamic group.

The Sunday Telegraph alleged Street UK, which worked for the council to raise awareness about child sexual exploitation, had several links with extremist figures.

It said the group paid for the publication of “ultra-literal and conservative” booklets about Islam, published articles by radical clerics and was linked to a scandal regarding extremism in schools.

Street UK representative Alyas Karmani yesterday said: “These claims have no basis whatsoever. We have been at the forefront of challenging extremism and child sexual exploitation in the UK.”

Last night county council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “We check the backgrounds of all organisations we work with, but I will be asking questions tomorrow about this.”

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A report to the county council’s cabinet in November 2013 said the authority had secured funding to employ Street UK “to carry out targeted work with mosques and to work with young people and their families”. It came in the wake of Operation Bullfinch, launched by Thames Valley Police in 2011 to target men abusing young girls.

After a trial at The Old Bailey, seven men were jailed for a total of 95 years after being found guilty of abusing young girls in Oxford in June 2013.

According to the cabinet report, written by director of children’s services Jim Leivers, the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board was also planning to fund a pilot mentoring programme.

Mr Leivers wrote: “[It will] work closely with those at risk of perpetrating child sexual exploitation and divert them away from such activity. This will include the training and ongoing support from Street UK.”

But last night a council spokesman said: “The Telegraph story is wrong.

“We do not have a contract with Street UK.”