FIVE people have been arrested as part of an investigation into a human trafficking and slavery ring in Burnley.

Police said a 20-year-old Slovakian woman was being kept as a slave at a house in Daneshouse.

Two Polish men were arrested in Bradford on Friday.

They appeared at Burnley Crown Court yesterday alongside three others to face a range of exploitation charges.

Azam Khan, 33, of Brougham Street, Burnley, is charged with offences of false imprisonment, rape and assault.

Abdul Sabool Shinwary, 37, and Kristina Makunova, 36, both of Girlington Road, Bradford, were charged with trafficking a person for exploitation under section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 and remanded in custody, having been arrested in Bradford.

Imrich Bodor, 44, and Petra Dzudzova 25, both of Clipstone Street, Bradford, are charged with trafficking a person for exploitation under section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004.

No pleas have yet been entered by the defendants.

Police said the investigation began following a report to police in October that a Slovakian woman was being held against her will at a property in Daneshouse.