REVELATIONS of the sexual abuse of children in football could be the tip of "an extremely large and extremely unpleasant iceberg" enveloping many other sports, a Taunton lawyer has claimed.

Elizabeth Duncan was commenting after it emerged that Avon and Somerset Police had received a number of calls alleging historic abuse following reports of a number of youth team players being attacked by coaches.

Ms Duncan, of Slee Blackwell solicitors, warned that football is not the only sport to be affected by the problem, claiming it is relevant to all sports in which children compete, including swimming and gymnastics.

She added that the close relationship between coach and athlete in sport is one that abusers can prey upon, making those children particularly vulnerable.

She said: “Abusers have been using sport to groom and sexually exploit young people, often under the noses of their parents and other responsible adults.

"There is a sense that, as with the Savile scandal, the full extent of the problem has yet to emerge. This might be the tip of an extremely large and extremely unpleasant iceberg."

Ms Duncan said elite athletes aspiring to Olympic glory or Premier League riches are especially vulnerable, adding: "The athlete's parents and family often make sacrifices which puts additional financial and moral burdens on the child who doesn't want to let them down.

"Children can become dependent on their coach who holds the key to their sporting success.

"As the relationship develops athletes find themselves being taken away from the safety of their home or school and placed in environments which they may not be equipped to deal with.

"Athletes desperately seeking playing time, selection, top level coaching, or funding are the junior partners in an unequal power relationship, so when abuse occurs it can be difficult for them to break free.”

Meanwhile, fellow Slee Blackwell lawyer Rachel Thain, named as a 2016 legal hero by Devon and Somerset Law Society for her work with child abuse survivors, was interviewed on Sky News about revelations that Chelsea Football Club had released an ex-player from a confidentiality clause preventing him speaking out about his alleged abuse at the hands of a club coach.

Ms Thain is an ambassador for Enough Abuse UK and is calling for a ban on confidentiality clauses in abuse cases.