MPs say hand car washes should have a licence to operate in an attempt to prevent "modern slavery in plain sight".

The Environmental Audit Committee has conducted an enquiry into potential exploitation and environmental damage caused by cheap hand car washes, as reported by the BBC.

There are hand car washes operating across Gloucestershire, in places like supermarket and rugby club car parks, as well as on dedicated premises.

More than a quarter of calls to the Modern Slavery Helpline were from car wash workers, according to MPs. Cheap hand car washes now account for 80 per cent of the car wash sector nationally.

The MPs have called on government to introduce a trial licensing scheme and review whether the Modern Slavery Act could be updated to cover businesses as small as hand car washes.

In its report, the committee pointed to a number of health and safety violations, including cases of trench foot and chemical burns as a result of prolonged exposure to water and cleaning products.

It also said that, out of 450 people who had been trafficked into the UK, 40 from Easter European countries were working in hand car washes.

There have only been 14 minimum wage prosecutions in the sector since 1999.

The MPs also highlighted risks to water quality as a result of waste water flowing into drains.

The report said not all hand car washes were in breach of the law. The Car Wash Advisory Service (CWAS), which represents all kinds of car washes, operates a Wash Mark, scheme so customers can identify a company which is meeting required standards.

The CWAS said the industry had known about the issues highlighted by the report for many years.

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