The number of modern slavery crimes reported to police in the UK shot up by almost 50pc in the last year, according to a report.

There were 5,059 offences recorded by police in England and Wales in the year to March 2019, up by 49pc from 3,393 in the previous 12 months, the UK’s annual report on modern slavery said.

The latest estimate of the scale of modern slavery in the UK was made by the Home Office in 2014, suggesting there were between 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims of modern slavery in the previous year.

The document said there are now over 1,400 active investigations involving modern slavery across the UK.

There was also a 36pc rise in the number of potential victims identified and referred for support under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), up to 6,985 from the previous year.

Some 3,128 were exploited as children, according to figures up to date as of July.

Public bodies have a duty to tell the government if they discover a victim of modern slavery and this happened in the cases of 1,551 people in 2018.

To continue attempts to tackle the crime, the report said the UK government would continue to “fill key research gaps”, raise awareness and look at pilot schemes as well as respond to a consultation on possible law changes under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to make its work more transparent.

Ministerial departments will each publish annual reports on the matter after the 2020/21 financial year.

Adam Hewitt, from British anti-slavery charity Hope for Justice, said the rise showed a light was being shone on a “hidden and complex problem”, of slavery.

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