Flower pickers call for release of boss accused of slave labour

MIGRANT flower pickers have been protesting outside a police station after officers “rescued” them from an alleged slave farm.

The crowd of more than 100 workers took to the streets to demand the release of their employer following a police raid on the farm where they had been working.

Three men were arrested on slavery charges following the dawn raid on R H Scrimshaw and Sons’ farm in Cornwall.

More than 200 migrant workers have been picking flowers on the site. Following the raid on Thursday, many of them took a bus to Camborne police station to demonstrate. Marin Alinaflorentina, from Romania, said they all

‘I’ve been working here for four years. If it was bad, we wouldn’t bring our friends and families here’

worked and lived in caravans on the farm. “Our boss has been arrested and we think he has done nothing wrong. We have very good conditions,” she said. “I’ve been working here for four years. If it was bad, I wouldn’t work here, we wouldn’t bring our friends and families here.”

She said the group all worked for up to nine hours a day, with the best picker earning £240.

She added: “We stay on the farm. Without our boss, we don’t have any work. We’ve not been told anything. We just know the boss is under arrest.”

The raid led to three men, aged 61, 41 and 49, being arrested on modern-day slavery charges. They have since been released under investigation pending further inquiries.

Chief Con Shaun Sawyer, who is also the National Police Chiefs Council’s lead for modern slavery, added: “There were reports of alleged offences of modern slavery. There comes a point where we have to intervene.”