SLAVERY referrals by Wiltshire Police have doubled in a year, figures show.

Last year, 31 people were referred by the county force to National Crime Agency through a scheme aimed at safeguarding potential victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. It was up from 14 in 2017.

Shockingly, of those people flagged by Wiltshire Police last year, 24 were children.

The force said the most common forms of criminal exploitation were sex working, forced labour and people being forced into committing crimes like drug dealing.

Det Supt Jeremy Carter said tackling modern slavery was a top priority for Wiltshire Police:

“From November 2017 to November 2018 we received 3263 intelligence reports relating to modern slavery which is a 47 per cent increase on the previous year," he said.

"This is down to the public, local authorities and our own officers and staff having an increased awareness of modern slavery – including signs and symptoms to look out for and how to report any concerns.

“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 the services they use so that informed decisions can be made."

Nationally, police forces have seen a rise in the number of children referred to the NCA under the National Referral Mechanism scheme.

Cases of modern slavery involving British under-18s rose from 676 in 2017 to 1,421 in 2018. The jump has been linked to the use of child runners by county lines drug gangs.

Roy McComb, deputy director of the NCA, said the county lines link was of particular concern: “These are often vulnerable individuals – often children – who are exploited by criminal gangs for the purposes of drug trafficking.

“Our understanding of the threat is much greater than it was a few years ago, and modern slavery remains a high priority for law enforcement, with around 1,500 criminal investigations currently live in the UK.

“But we cannot stop modern slavery alone. We need support and assistance from across the public and private sectors, NGOs, and most of all the public themselves.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Modern slavery is an abhorrent crime that this government is committed to tackling."

More support would be made available to victims, government said.