UPDATE: 2.44pm

A spokesman for Metropolitan Police explained that Operation Fernbridge is a “significant operation” which is looking into two main threads.

He said: “These threads are historical child abuse and sexual assaults, which are not recent (incidents from the sixties, seventies and eighties) but are not restricted to this time frame as we will extend the range if needed as part of investigations."

He added that the location of the investigations have been centred around Westminster and other relevant places but added that “we will go to where our investigations take us”.

He explained that investigations are not just centred on public figures.

He declined to comment on an individual case.

UPDATE: 10.14am

A spokesman for the Church of England confirmed that an allegation concerning Leo Abse was made to a priest and that was passed to authorities in the Church who passed this information to detectives from Operation Fernbridge.

UPDATE: 6.36am

THE name of the dead former Labour MP for Torfaen, Leo Abse, has been passed to an investigation into an alleged paedophile network, it has emerged.

The Church of England said it had passed an allegation about Leo Abse to Operation Fernbridge, a Metropolitan Police inquiry.

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Abse, who died in 2008 aged 91, was being investigated by police on suspicion of child abuse.

The newspaper said documents from South Wales Police revealed that claims against the long-serving politician were being examined by another force.

South Wales Police had no information about the story, and Scotland Yard would not confirm or deny whether it was involved.

The newspaper said the Church of England had passed Mr Abse's name to detectives from Fernbridge, a Metropolitan Police inquiry into an alleged Westminster VIP paedophile network.

A Church of England spokesman said: "An allegation was made to a priest, who passed it on to us, and we passed it on to Fernbridge."

Mr Abse was MP for Pontypool from 1958 to 1983, and then Torfaen from 1983 to 1987.