A MAN working in a city centre nail salon was identified as a potential victim of modern slavery.

A 27-year-old man working at Salisbury Nail Salon on Milford Street was highlighted as a potential victim of exploitation in two days of police action across the county.

Wiltshire Police carried out visits to 23 nail bars across Wiltshire and Swindon on Wednesday and Thursday to check on the welfare of their employees.

The Salisbury worker was among other victims identified including a 16-year-old boy in Westbury and a 17-year-old boy in Trowbridge.

All were immediately referred via the National Referral Mechanism to ensure that they were given accommodation and further support.

And a 23-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were arrested for immigration offences at Lavish Nails and Beauty in Royal Wooton Bassett.

They were handed over to the Immigration Authority.

Police say nail bars and salons are among businesses where exploitation is known to take place, usually involving vulnerable people including trafficked women from South East Asia.

Business owners employing illegal workers can face fines of up to £20,000 for each employee by the Immigration Authority Detective Superintendent Craig Holden said the police wanted to identify vulnerable people and raise awareness about modern slavery, adding that Wiltshire was "not immune to these issues".

He said: "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.

“It’s not just a police issue; it’s a real team effort and the Swindon and Wiltshire Anti-Slavery Partnership (chaired by Wiltshire Police) is helping to bring everyone together to put a stop to slavery in our communities.

“Modern Slavery is an ever-changing area of crime. That’s why we have to be proactive, build up our intelligence of what is happening and deploy our resources accordingly. This operation has focused our efforts on visiting nail bars across the county.

“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

• they may appear to be very young or they may appear to have no prior experience of the job they are doing (for example nail care).

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. The information will then be passed on to the Wiltshire Police Human Exploitation and Emerging Threats (HEET) team for further investigation.