Human trafficking suspects bailed

The migrant workers were picking leeks in the field when officers arrived

Eight people arrested in one of the biggest human trafficking crackdowns in the UK have been released on bail while inquiries continue, police said.

The six men and two women were arrested after raids on a field in Lincolnshire and 21 houses in Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands.

Sixty Eastern European workers suspected of being exploited by the gang were being interviewed.

Northamptonshire Police said another man had been released without charge.

The 60 migrant workers were aged 15 to 67. They were taken from the field near Holbeach, South Lincolnshire, to a reception centre in Northamptonshire where police said they were being treated as victims and witnesses.

Major supermarkets

About 200 officers from nine agencies were involved in the raids.

The houses raided were in Kettering, Peterborough, and Coventry.

The six men arrested were all from Kettering. Two were aged 48, two were 22, one was 25 and the sixth was a 50-year-old.

Two women arrested were a 24-year-old from Coventry and a 44-year-old from Kettering.

The operation, dubbed Operation Ruby, involved the East Midlands Foreign National Crime Team, Northamptonshire Police, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, the UK Border Agency, Serious Organised Crime Agency and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

It is believed the food the workers were picking was being sold to some of the country's major supermarket chains.

Detective Superintendent Glyn Timmins, director of investigations at Northamptonshire Police, said efforts would be made to rehouse the migrants and find them legitimate work.