The charity Thames Reach, which helps poor people living on the streets, said it has reports of such examples of exploitation in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Southampton, Dover, Leicester and Luton.

Thames Reach said 22 central and eastern European rough sleepers who had escaped their gang masters have contacted the charity to seek help this year with some of them saying their lives are at risk.

"We have been coming across some extremely disturbing reports from homeless people who have been ´enslaved´ by criminal gangs across the UK," said Mike Nicholas, a spokesman for the charity.

"Increasing numbers of rough sleepers, many from central and eastern Europe, have told us how they have been held against their will, beaten and forced to work without wages before escaping and ending up on the streets of London," he added.

The aid organization reported earlier this year that it had found six transients who were enslaved by a criminal gang operating out of London´s King´s Cross.

The charity said one of the six Czech nationals who were exploited by a Czech family based in Birmingham told aid workers that he was lured into UK, drugged and taken to a house with nine other people.

The victim told the charity that the four-member gang forced all of them to work at a Luton bakery as a “slave” as the gang took all their money, gave him poor food only once a day and beat him regularly.

According to the charity, his ID was also stolen as was the documents of a separate Czech national who told Thames Reach he was enslaved in Leicester.

The charity has helped more than 1,000 central and eastern European people return to their countries since early 2009 including those who had suffered violent beatings by gang masters.

It said there were another 1,000 living on the streets last year.

"We need to alert homeless services and the people using them to the threat," Nicholas said.

"The embassies and police also need to take the issue more seriously, ensuring the victims get assistance and that this recently exposed menace is tackled. Life as a rough sleeper can be extremely dangerous but the sheer criminality and brutal nature of these gangs has taken the threat of living on the streets to a new level," he added.

End.
Last Updated: 19 September 2011