Devon and Cornwall Police have confirmed that there will be no prosecutions following a modern day slavery raid on a flower picking farm near Helston in February this year.

The force said that following completion of modern slavery investigation after the raid on Bosahan Farm near Manaccan, Helston that no criminal matters will be pursued

Specialist officers executed a warrant on Thursday 8 February on the suspicion that modern slavery offences were taking place against migrant workers.

In its statement Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Following a full investigation and discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service, there will be no criminal matters pursued by police in relation to this investigation; we are unable to comment on if further civil matters could be addressed by police or other partner agencies including HMRC or HSE.

"Following the warrant in February, 14 people chose to leave the farm with partnership support, of which 13 have used the services available to them to either find alternative employment or to return back to their home country.

"Devon and Cornwall Police appreciate the disruption this policing operation has caused to the wider farming, agricultural and migrant worker community. However, it is important to recognise that police had to ensure that the response to serious allegations of modern slavery were followed up and responded to with the gravity this under-reported crime deserved.

"This means ensuring that we had the ability to safeguard all migrant workers at the farm in-case they were victims that needed our support; Around 160 migrant workers at the farm had their welfare safeguarded by Cornwall Council with support from The Salvation Army and the British Red Cross during the initial visit; the sheer number of workers at the farm meant it wasn’t possible for this policing operation to be undertaken in a less intrusive and publicly visible manner.

"Whilst this investigation has been taking place over the past five months, the farm business was not prevented from operating.

"Modern slavery is real, it is serious and it ruins lives. Police will always act on reports of modern slavery and will continue to combat this crime in the region."

The raid caused widespread anger amongst the community with even the migrant workers themselves protesting that they were not being worked against their will and the conditions they lived under did not amount to modern slavery. They went on to praise the owners of the farm for being caring employers.

Please visit the modern slavery website if you wish to know how to spot the signs of modern slavery and, if you have the slightest suspicion that there is a crime happening in your area, contact:

The national modern slavery helpline on 0800 0121 700

Non-emergency 101, 67101 sms/text number for the deaf/hard hearing/speech impaired 18001 101 Minicom/Textphone

Non-emergency email: 101 (or 999 if someone is in imminent danger) or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.