The Salvation Army is dealing with double the number of British victims of modern slavery as it was a year ago, according to a report released today.

The report, released ahead of Anti-Slavery Day tomorrow (October 18) outlines data gathered during the seventh year of the Salvation Army's government contract, through which it has managed support services to all victims of modern slavery in England and Wales.

It supported 86 British victims of modern slavery between July 2017 and June 2018, up from 44 the year before. A total of 1,856 people were referred into the service – an increase of 19 per cent compared with the same period a year ago - taking the total number of victims supported by the church and charity this year to 3,354.

The rise in British victims relates to forced criminality in dealing drugs, often where traffickers used their addiction problems to coerce them. Their stories show how traffickers systematically target and exploit vulnerable people, those with mental health problems, people without secure family networks or experiencing homelessness or others with substance addiction.

Most victims referred were female with 1064 referred; 790 were male and two identified as transgender. The highest number of women were trafficked from Albania (308) and Nigeria (111), and the highest number of men trafficked from Vietnam (130), followed by Romania (123) where there was a 173 per cent increase on the previous year.

Forty-five per cent of victims were trafficked for labour exploitation, 42 per cent for sexual exploitation, and 14 per cent for domestic servitude.

Salvation Army spokeswoman Kathy Betteridge said: 'The increase in the number of British victims referred in the past year is significant; many are being forced into criminality and exploited because of their vulnerabilities.

'We have supported people from 86 different countries and every story is different. What is important is that anyone in this situation right now needs to know we are here to help and support is available to keep them safe and help them move on with their lives.

'Our dedicated referral line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we strongly urge anyone who sees something which doesn't look right, a person who seems to be in a situation against their will or without autonomy to please report it.

'The Bible reminds us we are to speak up for the voiceless, defend the abused and liberate the oppressed. Modern slavery and trafficking is a crime that is happening right across the country and we all need to play a part in supporting victims and bringing it to an end.'