Hotel staff challenge undercover exploitation team

Det Sgt Dan Lydster helped co-ordinate Operation Makesafe

Warwickshire Police's Trafficking and Exploitation team have gone undercover to see if hotels are able to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Of the five hotels tested as part of Operation Makesafe, four challenged officers about the relationship between them and a police cadet.

The teenage cadets and officers posed as members of the public to visit hotels in Nuneaton and Rugby, where they tried to book a room for the night.

Det Sgt Dan Lydster said "It's difficult for them, [the hotel sector] because they're there to be hospitable - they don't want to ask too many questions of their customers. But it's just having professional curiosity and not been scared to turn people away."

It is the second time officers from Warwickshire Police have carried out the operation in the space of 12 months.

The aim was to see if staff accepted a "walk in" booking, when it became clear the adult and child were not related.

An undercover officer and a teenage police cadet posed as members of the public

Since their last visit to the hotels, children's charity Barnardo's have been providing training to hotel staff on how to spot the the signs of potential CSE.

Warning indicators include an attempt to book a double bedroom for one night, paying with cash, providing no ID and not carrying any luggage.

• Listen on BBC Sounds: Hotel staff challenge undercover police

Det Sgt Lydster said the results from the most recent visits were on the whole positive with an 80% challenge rate from staff.

He said: "What we've done this time is very different to what we've done the previous occasions.

"We've sent Barnardo's out early, they offered all the hotels locally some training to see how they should respond to the warning signs of CSE.

"We're doing a mix of hotels that have done that training and haven't."