The government has been warned it risks a Rotherham abuse scandal in Kent if it does not act to stop vulnerable children being placed in the county.

Paul Luxmoore, executive head of the Coastal Academies Trust - five schools in Thanet - is defying orders to accept looked after children from outside Kent into his schools.

He has refused to comply with directions from the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to place two vulnerable children placed in the area by Greenwich council and says he will continue to block any further placements until the government acts.

He says the issue has dogged schools in east Kent for years but has been continually ignored and he has decided the only way for it to be addressed is to provoke a stand-off.

“There are 954 out-of-county looked after children in Kent and that could have dire consequences. The government just does not want to know. When - not if - something disastrous happens we are not going to be made to bear responsibility.”

He said the authorities had failed to learn the lessons of other abuse scandals such as those in Rotherham and Rochdale, where vulnerable children were exploited by gangs who groomed them for sex.

The problem lay in the fact that London boroughs lacked sufficient foster families and looked to Kent where costs were cheaper.

“It is market driven and the market means that where there are no foster places in London, you [councils] look for somewhere near London.”

That was being aggravated by the increasing activity of London gangs crossing what is called the “county line” to exploit vulnerable children.

He said the academy trust did not accept that the EFA had the authority to force it to accept vulnerable children where there were grounds for believing that placements could put the child or others at risk.

“King Ethelbert’s has twice been directed to accept a vulnerable child and we have written to say we do not accept their direction and would only do so if directed by the Secretary of State.”

He had declined to do so.

Coastal Academies Trust is a multi academy trust of four schools in Thanet, King Ethelbert, Dane Court Grammar, Hartsdown and Cliftonville Primary.