Warning after Derby guest house owner served notice

Officers are warning owners of guest houses and hotels to be on the lookout for vulnerable young people being sexually exploited on their premises.

The warning comes after a Derby guest house was handed a legal notice after investigations into the disappearance of two vulnerable children showed that they had been sexually exploited at their premises.

While the two children were found safe and well, the search was hindered when officers attended the guest house only to find that the manager could not provide information about those people staying at the premises.  

The notice, served under section 116 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, requires the manager to provide the police with names and addresses of guests when requested. If they fail to do so then they can be issued with a maximum fine of £2,500 if found guilty.

Sergeant Laura Sanders, who leads the south division missing person team, said: “During our investigation into the disappearance of two highly vulnerable children, we established that they had stayed at a particular guest house in Derby.

“Although the children were soon located, our enquiries were seriously delayed by the lack of information the manager was able to provide as it was clear accurate records were not kept.

“While they are not actively involved in the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable young children – owners and members of staff at all levels have a moral and professional responsibility to ensure that they are not allowing abuse to occur on their premises.

“I hope the issuing of this notice sends a clear message to other guest houses and hotels that, as force, we are committed to taking action against those who are involved in the exploitation of children and we will do all that we can to protect those who are vulnerable.”

If you are concerned that a young person may be at risk of being exploited then you can contact Derbyshire police using any of the below methods, in confidence, at any time.

• Facebook– send us a private message to /DerbyshireConstabulary
• Twitter– direct message our contact centre on @DerPolContact
• Website– complete the online contact form derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us.
• Phone – call us on 101.

If you believe that the incident is an emergency and requires immediate police attendance always call 999.

We’re currently sharing the work we do across our varied communities as part of Operation Derbyshire.

Operation Derbyshire runs until the end of May. It will see officers and staff sharing with our communities the excellent work that is going on to tackle certain crime types in the county.

Operation Derbyshire will also highlight the work that we and our partners do to support victims and bring offenders to justice.

You can follow our work on social media by following #OpDerbyshire.