TWO suspected illegal immigrants working at an Indian restaurant were arrested as police continue to hunt down victims and perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.

Officers told how they area blitzing Rayleigh determined to stop a repeat of what happened in Shoebury, where a pimp took advantage of young, vulnerable children and sold the underage girls for sex.

The Echo told earlier this month how Stephen Castle, 41, was jailed for running the Girls 4 You escort agency from his flat in Shoebury, employing girls as young as 15.

His driver Steven Davis, 55, who ferried prostitutes to addresses across Essex and arranged for them to receive payment and drugs, was also jailed.

In light of the convictions, officers from the Castle Point and Rochford community policing team, backed by Rochford District Council, are carrying out proactive and intensive checks at fast food outlets.

Insp Fergus Caulfield explained: “We are trying to be proactive in looking for children who could be exploited sexually.

“As well as training taxi drivers to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation, we looked at where children might congregate, such as fast food outlets.

“We know that these types of places are often where young people work too, so we wanted to look into who is working there and who is running these types of premises.”

The effort comes as part of Essex Police’s drive to investigate “hidden harms” within the community, including human trafficking and modern slavery.

They hope to find and safeguard vulnerable children, who often work at and visit those types of restaurants.

Officers visited several takeaways across Rayleigh, spoke to workers and owners and checked their backgrounds, following a similar initiative carried out ten days previously.

PC Steve Joyne, from the community policing team, said: “We visited a restaurant at about 4pm and we went with the intention of searching for evidence of human trafficking.

“The recent case in Shoebury proved a point that it does happen locally and we want to search for it and stamp it out, not turn a blind eye to it.

“We want to cause a bit of disruption, go round these areas and keep people on their toes.

“We don’t want it to happen here.

“For the public protection, we want to do all that we possibly can.”

Mr Joyne carried out checks at Bengal Blue, in Eastwood Road, Rayleigh, and arrested two suspected illegal immigrants.

They were handed over to immigration officials.

The two Bangladeshi men, were aged in their mid-30s and mid-40s.

One was arrested for having no valid documentation and the other was arrested on suspicion of overstaying his Visa.

It is understood that the operation was not in response to any intelligence the police had received.

Checks were carried out in the High Street earlier in the month, when three men from India were arrested after officers visited Favorite Chicken.

Further visits to takeaways are planned for the New Year.

Anyone with information about people overstaying their visas or child sexual exploitation can call Essex Police on 101.

Or alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.