AN INVESTIGATION is underway after three girls from a Kent school claimed they were all raped while on a trip to Belize.

Police in Belize are hunting a 24-year-old man who it is thought may have fled the country across the border to Guatemala.

The suspect was named by the teenagers and the alleged rapes are said to have taken place in the room next door to their chaperone.

A Kent County Council spokesman at County Hall in Maidstone confirmed that a council officer had flown to Belize to ensure that everything was being done to look after the girls.

He said that at the moment the allegations were a matter for police in Belize, but the investigation is being monitored by KCC.

The girls were on a trip organised by Adventure Lifesigns which is based in Aldershot, Hampshire.