Kirklees police have carried out an operation to tackle human trafficking and organised crime.

Officers visited several addresses in Huddersfield and Batley to gain intelligence, as well as raising awareness about human trafficking.

Det Insp Shaf Rehman, of Kirklees CID, who led the operation, said: “Modern slavery and human trafficking is a hidden crime and any proactive operations such as this, help to educate the public about how they can help us to tackle it, as well as the exploitation of vulnerable victims.

“As a force, we are committed to working closely with our partner agencies to address and put a stop to this serious crime, as well as to increase the public’s awareness of it.

“Victims of human trafficking, modern slavery and sexual exploitation can be assured that any reports or intelligence received by West Yorkshire Police , will be thoroughly investigated by specially trained officers and will provide them with help and support throughout the investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

At least 47 potential victims of modern slavery were recorded across West Yorkshire in the first three months of 2018 – and 27 of them were children.

Statistics published by the National Crime Agency, the UK’s lead organisation for tackling organised crime, have revealed the extent of modern slavery and people trafficking across our region.

West Yorkshire Police identified 24 of the potential victims between January and March – half of whom were children.

Of these, seven were UK children, four girl and three boys, suspected of being sexually exploited. Three Eastern European children were also suspected of being used for child labour, and the final two children were victims of unidentified exploitation.

Eight adults were exploited for their labour, one was sexually exploited and three were victims of unidentified exploitation.

A further 15 potential child victims, and eight adults were identified by councils in West Yorkshire, bringing the total number of people exploited to 47 with 27 being minors.

In one case currently under investigation, a Polish man claimed that his organs were going to be harvested. Over the past six months, British citizens have been the largest nationality represented in the figures – the first time this has happened since records began.

In the first three months of 2018, 347 potential victims were British, compared to just 138 over the same period in 2017.