CHILDREN as young as 11 are being sold for sex by professional businessmen in the North-East, it was revealed last night.

The children's charity Barnado's uncovered the allegations of perverts preying on the youngsters.

Shocked child protection agencies say they uncovered a dossier of depravity during a year-long study in Newcastle.

Vulnerable children are targeted by pimps, who hand them mobile phones and tell them to call perverts looking for underage sex.

Barnardo's said the law still offers little protection to those most at risk.

Research revealed that 28 children and young people were being sexually exploited through prostitution in the city, with another 136 at significant risk

Of 68 young people the charity had detailed information on, 28 lived in Newcastle and 20 from other areas of the North-East.

Many of the most vulnerable children were apparently being run as part of organised paedophile rings.

One young girl, asked how her clients made contact, said: "I got off the train and soon found some blokes who said they would give me somewhere to stay if I had sex with them.

"The boss guy belonged to a network of professional men working across Newcastle."

The girl was given a list of mobile phones. She would ring them and arrange a meeting. In some cases, she actually went to their house.

One agency working with sexually-exploited young people in the city reported that some of them talked about ritualistic abuse, or of being controlled through family networks or abusive gangs.

Child protection agencies called for more to be done to break up organised paedophile rings.

Northumbria Police said last night it had no evidence of child sex rings in the city.

But last night, Barnardo's said it had handed evidence in the report to detectives.

Ady Davis, of Barnardo's, who conducted the study, said: "This research has provided a massive opportunity to help sexually-exploited young people in Newcastle because it has turned constant 'hearsay' into evidence.

"It also gives us the chance to look closely into the allegations of the networks exploiting these young people.

"Up until now, the police were not getting that opportunity, but further work now needs to be done to empower young people and investigate and prosecute their abusers."

He adde: "Our research shows that these young people can be attending school, are from every area of Newcastle and many have never been in contact with Social Services. But something has gone on in the home for these young people which has caused family break-up or homelessness, which in turn has led to sexual exploitation."

Barnardo's carried out the research on behalf of the Newcastle area child protection committee with support from Northumbria Police and Newcastle Primary Care Trust. Similar research was carried out in Middlesbrough in 1998.

Detective Chief Inspector Allan Brown, of Northumbria Police, said: "We are very supportive of this research.

"But we still don't have a clear picture of sexual exploitation because victims are reluctant to come forward and report what is happening.

"What's important now is to raise the awareness of young people and vulnerable adults who are sexually exploited about the support available to help them, such as rape crisis centres, local health services or social services."

He added that victims needed to know they would not be regarded as criminals, and that there had been no increases in this type of offence despite the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which widened the range of possible sexual offences.

Newcastle City Council's executive director of children's services, Catherine Fitt, said the findings would help agencies to support young people and to cut the risk of exploitation.

A workshop for professionals who work with young people will be held in the city today to develop an action plan. A board will be established on December 6 to carry out the action plan.