TWO people were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences during a police operation to tackle modern slavery.

A 23-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman at Lavish Nails and Beauty in Royal Wootton Bassett were handed over to the immigration authority at some point during Wiltshire police's investigation of 23 nail bars in Swindon and Wiltshire on Wednesday and Thursday.

Police and immigration officers checked on the welfare of the nail bars' employees and assessed whether there was any evidence of potential exploitation.

Detective Superintendent Craig Holden said: "Sadly, these types of businesses are amongst those where exploitation has been known to take place.

"This predominantly involves labour exploitation of vulnerable, often trafficked, women from South East Asian countries.

"I must stress that exploitation doesn’t just happen in these types of establishments and there are many perfectly legitimate businesses that treat their workers well.

“Whilst carrying out our visits we have identified potential victims of exploitation. They have been referred via the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that they are given accommodation, food and further support.

“I would urge the public to be aware of the potential signs of exploitation and use that information to not only report their concerns but also to think of the human cost of their services so as to make informed decisions when buying services such as nail treatments."

Victims of human trafficking and exploitation aren’t always immediately obvious to spot but there are some potential indicators that may help the public.

For example, their appearance may hold clues as to how they are being treated, they may not speak any English, they may show emotional signs of exploitation such as anxiety, fear, withdrawal or distress, or they may appear to be very young or they appear to have no prior experience of the job they are doing.

Business owners found to employ illegal workers are potentially liable for fines of up to £20,000 for each illegal employee within their business.

Det Holden added: "The main reason for this action was to identify whether there were any vulnerable people being exploited in our communities.

"We also want to raise awareness with the public that slavery can and does happen in our communities and they can help us stop it.

"Whilst Wiltshire is one of the safest places to live and work in the country, it is not immune to these types of issues.

"We want to be on the front foot, working with the public to identify the threats to vulnerable people in our community then working in tandem with our partners to provide safeguarding and bring offenders to justice."

If members of the public have concerns that someone may be a victim of exploitation they should call 101 and give as much detail as possible.