Seven children found working in Kempsey field
6:22pm Sunday 24th October 2010
- By Flora Drury » twitter.com/floradruryWN
SEVEN children - some as young as nine - have been found working in a field near Worcester.
The children were part of a group of 50 Romanians picking spring onions near Kempsey found by the Gangmaster’s Licensing Association (GLA), who were working jointly with West Mercia Police, on Wednesday, October 20.
It is believed the group - some of whom were bought to the field was a box van with a settee in the back - were working for an unlicensed gangmaster, alongside a small group of Indian workers who were working for a licensed gangmaster.
The children, aged between nine and 15, were working in near freezing conditions in clothes which “were not adequate” for the wintry conditions.
A report by a Sunday national claims the children’s clothes were in fact summer clothes, and they were being forced to work from 7.30am until dusk without food or water.
The report goes onto say wellington boots, which would have fit a five-year-old, were found in the field which could mean even younger children were being forced to work.
Some of the children - two boys and five girls - were working with their parents, although others were not.
Local resident Jane Jones, a Kempsey parish councillor, lives opposite the field where they were working but was out when the police and GLA arrived.
She said: “They were only there a couple of days. I used to see them out there and I would speak to them - say hello - but I did not realise there was anything illegal going on. I just thought they were there with their parents.”
The children have been taken into police protection by West Mercia Police and investigations are ongoing by them, the GLA and the UK Borders Agency.
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Your Say Your Dudley
DarrenM, worcester says... //--> DarrenM, worcester says...
6:25pm Sun 24 Oct 10Evening News has its ear to the ground again, something like happens just down the road from the city, and it takes the 'nationals' to break it...
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Sunday, 24 October 2010
Seven children found working in Kempsey field (From Dudley News)
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