by Graham Tutthill

gtutthill@thekmgroup.co.uk

People sleeping rough on the streets of Dover are being turned into slaves, according to a charity which works with the homeless.

Thames Reach says gangs are targeting rough sleepers in towns and cities such as Dover, Birmingham, Southampton, Luton and Leicester.

The statement followed a police raid in Bedfordshire where four men and one woman were arrested on grounds of suspicion of slavery. In this group the people being enslaved were for the most part English, but in other areas of the country the charges involve Eastern Europeans who have been targeted.

Some of those who claim to have been enslaved state that they were lured to the UK by these gangs under false pretences.

According to Thames Reach spokesman Mike Nicholas there are growing numbers of homeless people, mostly from eastern and central European countries, who claim to have been held against their will, beaten and forced to work without being paid.

Some claim to have had their identity stolen along with any money they arrived with and credit cards as well.

Thames Reach has revealed several stories regarding how people are being forced against their will to work for these gangs and it is largely through their efforts that police have begun making arrests.

The charity is also urging people not to give money to people who beg on the streets. They say the money could be used to buy the drugs that kill them.

Thames Reach chief executive Jeremy Swain said that contrary to popular perception, most people who beg are not homeless, and are using the money they receive to fuel a drug or alcohol addiction.

"The frontline homelessness charities are in no doubt that money contributed by caring members of the public to people begging is, invariably, spent on heroin and crack cocaine, causing ill health, misery and sometimes death," he said.

"Please give us the opportunity of transforming lives by putting money into services instead of into the pockets of the dealers."

Police officers and police community support officers have been addressing the issue of people begging on the streets of Dover, particularly near to cash point machines.

A soup kitchen, run by volunteers from various churches in the town, operates in Dover each evening to provide homeless people with food and drink.

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