slavery

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it has seen some evidence of potential trafficking victims being marked with tattoos - like branding.

The report found that victims were marked with "various symbols signifying ownership or to show that a victim is over 18".

The report said it included the evidence to give front line responders another sign to look out for when dealing with potential victims.

By far the most common type of exploitation was sexual in nature. Other common exploitation types suffered by potential victims included:

• Sexual exploitation (41%)
• Labour exploitation (27%)
• Criminal exploitation (9%)
• Unknown (9%)
• Domestic servitude (8%)
• Organ harvesting (less than 1%)

Last year saw the number of potential trafficking victims from the UK more than double, according to a new report.

The potential victims came from 86 different countries. The most common countries of origin were:

• Romania (11%)
• Poland (9%)
• UK (7%)
• Albania (7%)
• Nigeria (6%)

The number of potential slavery victims exploited in car washes has risen from just seven cases in 2012 to 30 in 2013. Half of these were from Romania.

The National Crime Agency found that many of these were forced to work for low pay and bound to traffickers through debt bondage.

Of those trafficked for labour exploitation, most (around 10%) were put to work in the paving and tarmacking industry by members of the UK Traveller community.

There were also significant numbers being exploited in the agriculture, construction and food industries.

The number of potential victims of human trafficking who are British more than doubled to 128 last year.

The UK is now the Number One country of origin for trafficked minors, jumping ahead of Vietnam, Nigeria, Slovakia and Romania since 2012.

The most common form of exploitation for girls was sex, while for boys it was mainly labour or criminal purposes.

The sharp rise in British girls being potentially trafficked reflects growing awareness of the problem following reports into the abuses in Rotherham and Rochdale.

The term modern slavery was coined in 2013 to collectively describe the crimes previously known as human trafficking, slavery, forced labour and domestic servitude.

The Modern Slave Bill, introduced to the House of Commons in June 2014, will make it easier for authorities to pursue and prosecute individuals suspected of these crimes.