They said they suffered physical and sexual abuse by the priests who ran the orphanage and physical and emotional abuse from the nuns who worked there.

The accusations relate mainly to the 1950s and 1960s. The home was closed in 1973, as the then Bedfordshire County Council was suspicious of how the facility was being run.

An FoI (Freedom of Information) request put in by this newspaper into the inspection reports demonstrate concern, which a former member of the then team, has said went well beyond what was written.

Two former boys, Damian Chittock and Tony Walsh, did win substantial amounts in out-of-court settlements from the Catholic Church but it never admitted guilt. Following an investigation by BoS, one of the accused priests, Father John Ryan, was interviewed by the police under caution but was not charged.

He was interviewed again two years later and a BoS reporter went to his house but he refused to comment.

Father Ryan died in 2008.

This newspaper also demonstrated a connection between the home and Jimmy Savile. A frequent visitor to the nearby Henlow Grange health and beauty farm, he used to attend the Catholic church attached to the home.

Father Paul Hardy of the Northampton Diocese said: “The complaints have been around for a number of years and nothing has so far come of it. We would regret any hurt or wrongdoing that has

happened in the past and await to see if anything comes from the latest developments.”