A Ukrainian refugee reported her British hosts for modern day slavery after they fell out over childcare and household chores.

Hannah Debenham, 42, arranged for the woman and her 10-year-old daughter stay at her eight bedroom home in Uckfield, East Sussex, under the settlement scheme back in June.

But fractures soon began to show, with the mums repeatedly falling out before the NHS mental health specialist asked her to leave.

Days later, she got a knock at the door from police officers saying they’d had a complaint.

Her guest claimed to have been ‘used as a slave and full-time child minder for little or no pay under the disguise of assisting her in the Ukrainian settlement scheme’.

She was invited in for an interview with a modern-day slavery inspector, something she branded ‘the worst experience of my life’, and remained under investigation for two months before the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Ms Debenham said the Ukrainian mum had agreed to help with babysitting two or three times a week, in return for accommodation and a £200 payment.

Things were fine during the ‘first weeks of the honeymoon period’ but then they turned sour when Hannah noticed the pair ‘didn’t clear up their dishes and used a new glass every time’.

The women fell out several times, including one disagreement over Hannah not being able to drive her guest to an appointment because she was working.

But everything came to a head when the Ukrainian mum took Hannah’s five-year-old son to a playground.

When the boy said he needed the toilet, she apparently told him to go in a nearby field and use leaves to clean himself.

Ms Debenham said: ‘I felt I could no longer fully trust her with my children and we decided that the arrangement was no longer working for us. I told her that when her benefits came through, she should find somewhere else to live.’ 

She said her solicitor described Sussex Police’s subsequent actions as an ‘outrageous overreach’.

But Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Patch told Mail Online the investigation was ‘expedited as quickly as possible’ and insisted the force takes any report of slavery ‘very seriously’.

Ms Debenham is relieved it’s all over but has felt incredibly stressed.

She said: ‘Now whenever I see a Ukrainian flag in this country I can’t help but feel anger for the people who have no gratitude, no care and no respect for people like me who was naïve and thought I could make this world a better place if I helped by inviting them to live in our home.’

The Ukrainian mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was contacted by MailOnline for comment.

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