There are as many slaves in the UK as there are residents in Blackpool but the real scandal is that once they escape they’re often re-trafficked

Have you ever had your car washed and stopped to wonder about the person who’s holding the sponge? Most of us wouldn’t, but we should.

I was devastated recently when I heard from Ali, a 24-year-old man from Romania working at a £5 car wash. If his customers had asked him the truth behind his story, they’d be in for a shock.

Ali had come to the UK in the hope of making enough money to send back to support his ill mother.

He was working in an Indian restaurant when a friend called and offered him a job in a London car wash that paid double the amount he was currently earning and he jumped at the chance.

The hours were long, and the work was hard – so when Ali realised he wasn’t being paid, he approached his bosses who threatened him with violence if he failed to do what they said.

The men forced Ali to open a number of bank accounts with fake IDs, which were used for money laundering.

Ali eventually escaped, and has now found the sanctuary of a secure job.

His story is a tragic one but at least it has had a happy ending. Unfortunately, many people who’ve gone through what Ali has, don’t achieve the same outcome.

There are 136,000 people – about the same number of people who live in Blackpool – being held as slaves in the UK.

Not only are we letting down those working as slaves, we’re letting down those who manage to escape the clutches of their captors, as it is estimated that up to 34 per cent of victims of modern slavery are re-trafficked.

This is because they are left without enough support from the government – meaning they are vulnerable and easy targets.

These people live amongst us unnoticed – washing our cars, painting our nails and working as domestic slaves in houses on our streets.

Our current laws don’t go far enough to protect victims of slavery.

They only have 45 days government support – including financial, housing and medical assistance – but this is simply not enough time to recover from the mental and physical abuse they have suffered.

Having heard at first hand the harrowing stories of people like Ali who have been caught up in this heinous crime, I am proud that we are working to support and help rebuild their lives.

This is why the Co-op are backing the Sun’s Stamp Out Slavery campaign – which calls to change the amount of time victims are allowed to remain in the UK – because we desperately need to provide a safety net to protect these people.

In this vital campaign, we’ve met Elvira who was forced to work for 20 hours a day for her slave masters.

She, like Brenda, who came over to the UK to send money back to her family in Asia, but was forced to cook and clean for no pay.

We have seen how others, trafficked in by eastern European or Russian gangs, are forced to work as manual labourers – often in cheap car washes, some which are unsafe, risking illnesses from chemicals and even death.

This was the case for Sandu, who was tragically electrocuted and killed in the flat he shared with five other workers behind the car-washing site they worked at for 12 hours a day.

Put simply, modern slavery shames Britain. Our nation has a rich history of anti-slavery.

If we allow it to continue then we are failing those who fought for our country and going back on our heritage.

Victims are men and women, boys and girls, UK nationals and non-UK nationals, and it is happening throughout communities across the UK.

Without realising it, we can all be interacting with victims on a daily basis. Where we suspect it, we must report it to the Modern Slavery Helpline.

As a country we have made substantial progress to combat modern slavery but we cannot stand still.

Business, government and society all have a part to play to consign modern slavery to the history books.

Thankfully, Ali, the man I met at that car wash escaped to a safe house where he was referred to Bright Future, the Co-op’s pathway to employment for victims of slavery.

Supported by the charity City Hearts, he was able to rebuild his life with a four week work placement and a job offer at the Co-op at the end of it.

Although Ali is now living happily in the UK, many others are not so fortunate.

In 2017 the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee noted the “inexcusable” lack of government support for victims of modern slavery.

This can’t continue.  Without appropriate support for victims, including a right to remain in the UK for those that are not UK nationals, they stand little chance of rebuilding their lives and risk falling back into abuse.

Victims need time to recover – that’s why The Sun and The Co-op are calling on the Prime Minister to provide 12 months of guaranteed support for victims through the Victim Support Bill.