Two leading figures on the shamed Haringey Council quit today over the Baby P scandal.

Council leader George Meehan and cabinet member for children and young people Liz Santry have resigned in the wake of a damning report into failings exposed by the tragedy.

The Children's Secretary Ed Balls ordered an urgent review of welfare services at the north London authority after the little boy was killed while on the child protection register.

Inspectors handed him a first report this morning and he made a statement about their initial findings this afternoon.

Local Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone suggested the report would reveal a "litany of failures" and lead to the resignation of Haringey's head of children services, Sharon Shoesmith.

Pressure is mounting on Mrs Shoesmith to quit over her department's handling of the Baby P case.

At the end of the trial of those responsible last month, she avoided saying sorry for the tragedy.

Asked if she would apologise to the child's natural father, she said only: "I am responsible to see that the services that I head up work to the best of their ability together with partners to protect children."

Mrs Shoesmith had also insisted there was no evidence requiring anyone to resign or be sacked over their involvement in the case.

The infant, who can't be named for legal reasons, was 17 months old when he died in a blood-splattered cot in August last year.

He had suffered more than 50 injuries at the hands of his abusive mother, 27, her boyfriend, 32, and their lodger, Jason Owen, 36, despite 60 contacts with the authorities.