There are “reasonable grounds” to suspect two people perverted the course of justice by allegedly making false abuse claims against a string of high-profile figures, a police force has said. The pair, known only as witnesses A and B, are accused of lying during Operation Midland, launched in 2014 off the back of lurid and false allegations made by fantasist Carl Beech, who was later jailed for 18 years. It is in the “public interest” to investigate whether there is enough evidence to prosecute them, West Midlands police have concluded in a review. It comes after a 2016 review of Operation Midland, led by former high court judge Sir Richard Henriques, found offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice should be considered against witnesses A and B and that any investigation should be carried out by another force. He found the pair had made false claims that appeared to back up Beech’s account. The Metropolitan police’s 16-month investigation into the fake claims of a VIP paedophile ring saw raids on the homes of the former home secretary Lord Brittan, the D-day veteran and former military chief Lord Bramall, and Harvey Proctor, a former Tory MP. No arrests were made by the time the investigation ended in 2016, after Beech had made a series of baseless allegations including of three murders. The force was heavily criticised for believing Beech too readily despite inconsistencies in his evidence, such as naming witnesses who did not exist. Earlier this year the Met handed over new information about witnesses A and B to West Midlands police to see if there should be a further investigation. The Met said: “That work has now been completed, with West Midlands concluding that there are reasonable grounds to suspect witnesses A and B have committed an offence of perverting the course of justice and that it is in the public interest to open an investigation into whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution. “Acknowledging that in light of its previous involvement the Met would not be the most appropriate force to carry out this investigation, officers are in the process of agreeing terms of reference with an external force so that the matter can be taken forward.”