MODERN slavery is being talked head on by a Worcestershire firm.

Workforce Staffing, which has county branches in Worcester, Reddditch and Kidderminster, has become an official partner of national Government-backed initiative Stronger Together - which was set up to stamp out exploitation of workers and human trafficking.

Gang masters are known to exploit workers, often migrants, by setting up and then controlling their bank accounts, syphoning off money they are owed for work.

The team from Workforce are trained to ask the right questions at interview stage and spot the signs that a candidate may have been brought to the UK, and exploited by ruthless gang masters.

Trudy Harding, from Workforce Staffing, said: “Modern day slavery is a strain on the conscience of the nation and has no place in Britain. People are being lured here with the promise of a better life and then denied the basic rights of workers and citizens, such as the minimum wage. At Workforce Staffing we conduct full face-to-face interviews at registration.

"We will only work with employers who are as committed as we are to ensuring gang masters cannot profit from their crime. We have worked with Stronger Together for the past two years."