Officers say they are dealing with around 30 pop-up brothels based in residential areas just six months after a Romanian gang were busted for opening brothels in the town and more than 40 potential victims of human trafficking were identified.
Reports across the UK of temporary #brothels, where rooms r rented for just a few days before women are swiftly moved on to evade detection
— Noorani Tejani (@NooraniTejani) February 6, 2017
However, temporary accommodation and rental properties being exploited by organized gangs and used as brothels is nothing new. In April 2016, one of the first cases of so-called pop up brothels emerged in Cumbria in the small town of Barrow.
Local newspaper, the Evening Mail reported that criminal gangs were targeting refugees to use as prostitutes and exploiting victims in hotel rooms and bed and breakfast establishments.
One landlady told the newspaper that a Romanian couple had got in touch with her looking for a room, only to find out a few weeks later that her address was included on a website advertising girls for sex.
A year later on in Swindon, landlords are among holiday let owners in Newquay, who are being asked to check that their properties aren't being used as temporary pop-up brothels.
Lots of press interest in pop up brothels in Newquay. The police treat sex workers as victims who are often exploited and work under duress
— Insp Dave Meredith (@NewquayInsp) January 5, 2017
