Two asylum seekers have been arrested after an immigration check at a Chippenham car wash.
Officers from the Chippenham neighbourhood policing team, the Intelligence Department and several partner agencies attended this morning (06/04) as part of a multi-agency visit to conduct Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) checks.
Officers from the teams in conjunction with the West of England Immigration Team and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service checked all employees as well as their working conditions and immigration status.
Two of the four males working on site were found to be working in breach of their Asylum Bail conditions and were therefore arrested for a Schedule 10 Immigration offence by the Immigration Service.
They were interviewed and subsequently released not to return to the site.
The owner was served paperwork notifying him of the intention to review the findings and the intention to prosecute for the Schedule 10 offences.
The owner can be fined up to £20,000 per person arrested.
Each member of staff cooperated fully with the enquiries and spoke with officers via Language Line to complete the MSHT First Contact Booklet. These booklets have this afternoon been used to submit numerous intelligence reports relating to the site and those working there.
Sergeant Jamie Ball of the Chippenham NPT said: “Our team is actively checking MSHT sites to identify victims of modern slavery.
“Almost 50 million people worldwide live as slaves today.
“In the UK alone, there are estimated to be over 100,000 victims silently hidden in places like car washes, brothels, nail bars and restaurants. They are in our neighbourhoods and on our streets.
“Our team is determined to protect the most vulnerable in our communities and crack down on MSHT.”
