“Slave auctions” of women sold into prostitution are being carried out on the concourses of British airports, it was revealed today.

The Crown Prosecution Service said people traffickers were selling sex workers as soon as they arrived on British soil from countries including eastern European states.

The shocking activity is one of a number of “airport crimes” coming into focus at a CPS conference tomorrow.

CPS director in west London, Nazir Afzal, said: “Criminal activity at the UK’s airports is on the increase.

“We are now seeing ’slave auctions’ being held in public places at airports where brothel keepers are bidding for women destined for prostitution.”

A CPS spokesman said one specific example of slave auction had taken place outside a coffee shop in the arrivals hall at Gatwick in south London.

Others were thought to have been staged at Heathrow, Stansted and other airports across the UK, he added.

Posted: 06|5|06 at 8:43 am. Filed under: UK News.