LOCAL authorities are turning to the public in their efforts to tackle the rise in modern slavery.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, is urging residents to become familiar with the warning signs, including large groups of people being transported to properties in vans and people seeming to have been deprived of food, water, medical care or sleep.

LGA safer and stronger communities board chairman Simon Blackburn said: “Our residents may be unwittingly using victims of modern slavery to wash their cars, paint their nails or lay their drives, unaware of the hell they are living through.