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Children's services in Worcestershire have been deemed "inadequate" following an inspection by the education watchdog.

Ofsted found "widespread and serious failures" in the services for children in need of help and protection.

It criticised "elected members and senior leaders" and inspectors said "corporate failure leaves children... at continued risk of significant harm".

Worcestershire County Council said it was "beginning to see improvements".

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The report, which covered an inspection period between 24 October and 17 November last year, said "inconsistent leadership and an insufficient number of staff at all levels contributed to a fundamental weakness in practice".

It added the response to child sexual exploitation was "not thorough enough."

The report said social workers "were not always using the risk assessment tools, and children identified as being at higher risk of exploitation are not diligently tracked by managers and partners to assess the effectiveness of their work".

The council said it was proposing to invest "an extra £3.5m into safeguarding children from April".

The authority's chief executive, Clare Marchant, said Ofsted "recognises progress is being made".

But she also stated she wanted to apologise to families and children "where the level of service that we have provided has not been good enough".

Ms Marchant continued: "We have significantly reduced the time it takes to complete care proceedings when they are required and we have made progress in recruiting more permanent front line team leaders to increase the stability of our workforce."

An NSPCC spokesman said although changes were now being made "Ofsted says services remain fragile".

He said: "Relying less on agency workers, and reducing caseloads for staff, will be key to stabilising the workforce and ensuring sustained improvements are made."