POLICE spoke to 25 different foreign nationals on Canvey to search for vulnerable people who could have been victims of human trafficking or modern slavery.

Under the codename Operation Diesel, officers from the Castle Point and Rochford community policing team carried out the checks on Friday to search for “hidden harms” in the community.

Supported by council officers and immigration officials, the police visited a number of car washes and homes where foreign nationals are known to live. They checked their backgrounds and went through a list of questions about how the people came into the UK.

PC Ian Risden, from the team, said: “When we carry out these checks, we check whether the people we come across are allowed to live and work in the UK first of all.

“But predominantly it is to safeguard people at risk of human trafficking.

“What tends to happen is that some people come from abroad and they can be paid money to come to the UK illegally and forced to work in poor conditions, without pay or given very low pay.

“Unfortunately we do have instances of human trafficking and modern slavery in Essex.

“We go through our normal checks with immigration and we also have a little chat about safeguarding - we have a list of questions to work out the risk.

“On this occasion, everything was in order but we will continue to carry on with this work - it is part of our community safety plan.

“We will always try our best to engage with these harder to reach communities, because their English isn’t always very good.

“They also sometimes have a natural resistance to police because of what they may have experienced when in their own country.”

Residents are also encouraged to keep an eye out for signs of modern slavery when using places like car washes, takeaways or nail bars.

Anybody with information about modern slavery or human trafficking in the Castle Point borough can call the community policing team on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 08000 555111.

Alternatively you can visit crimestoppers-uk.org and fill out an online form if you suspect any illegal activity.