UK warned over child trafficking

The government is not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of young people into Britain, a report by two children's charities has claimed.

Many are smuggled in from south-eastern Europe to be used in the sex trade, slavery or for begging, it says.

Unicef UK claims ministers need to do more to help victims once they arrive.

But the Home Office says it is committed to combating the "appalling" trade and has made trafficking punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

In the UK, between 1999 and 2003, some 250 children were rescued from trafficking.

Andrew Radford, deputy executive director of Unicef UK, says: "There are a lot of children falling through the net.

"If a child is picked up who is being trafficked, they might end up in a detention centre with asylum-seekers or a foster home.