Six social workers at Birmingham City Council have been sacked over catastrophic failures to protect children.

Its director Colin Tucker said the social workers had not been not doing their jobs properly and had shown “no sign whatsoever” of adhering to expected standards.

The sackings follow a case review into the death of seven year old Khyra Ishaq who died of starvation in 2008. It is believed that the review could result in further sackings.

However, Mr Tucker made clear that the sacked staff were not connected with the Khyra’s case.

Khyra was one of eight children known to social services to have died in the city in three years, the BBC report.

Mr Tucker was brought in after Ofsted severely criticised the running of the department, following a number of child deaths, including that of Khyra whose mother and partner have been jailed for the death.

Angela Gordon was sentenced last week to 15 years for starving her daughter to death at their Birmingham home in 2008.

Her mother’s partner, 31-year-old Junaid Abuhamza, was jailed indefinitely after his manslaughter plea was accepted.

Khyra was removed from school in December 2007 but when social workers attempted to call at her home they were either refused entry or the girl was presented to them on the doorstep and never seen alone by members of the department.

A High Court ruling into the case said that “in all probability” the girl would still have been alive if there had been “an adequate initial assessment by educational welfare services”.

But, in an interview for BBC WM on Friday, Mr Tucker said the staff dismissals represented a new culture within his department.

He also revealed there were about 120 vacant posts which had been filled with agency staff. A total of 750 social workers are employed by the department.

Asked on the BBC Today programme about the death of Khyra, he said: “In the profession, in the city, we are so upset about that it is untrue.

“Staff don’t come into social work to harm children or to miss signs of when they’re being abused or mistreated.”

When he first joined the department, which deals with about 2,000 cases, Mr Tucker admitted there had been mistakes in management and training, which led to the service entering special measures for the second time since 2002.

A government intervention team was instructed to work with social workers in January 2009 after it emerged eight children known to social services had died in the city in three years. An audit by a council scrutiny committee identified failings, including a shortage of experienced staff, inadequate monitoring, excessive paperwork and too little time with children and families.

A total of three serious case reviews were now under way, Mr Tucker said, adding that his social workers were now expected to see children alone.

However he admitted that “with the best will in the world, we cannot protect every single child we come into contact with”.