The immigrant leek pickers, who lived in St Paul's Road, New England, Peterborough, were believed to be waiting for vital travel documents before embarking on the gruelling 48-hour road trip back home.

About 18 men, women and children from Romania were found to have been living for weeks in cramped and squalid conditions in a four-bedroom terraced house in a near-deserted street where many other properties are boarded up.

The house had been discovered following one of the biggest crackdowns on human trafficking ever seen in the UK, following a investigation into organised crime and labour exploitation.

Northamptonshire police could not confirm whether "hot bedding", a practice whereby one person will sleep in a bed or mattress, go to work, and then the bed will be filled by someone who has just come off a night shift, had taken place there.

At the property today, The Evening Telegraph spoke to some of the victims who explained as best they good the situation they found themselves in.

Gulus Marius showed The ET the boot of his car, full of pots and pans and other household items, as he and other former workers waited for the documents they needed to leave the country.

He said: "It is a big problem for us. We're packing up as there is no work and no money."

One local shopkeeper we spoke to said he was not shocked to hear about more migrants leaving.

New England Supermarket owner Sidhu Harbhajan said: "We have noticed that we have fewer customers and business is down. People don't have much money to spend. A lot of people have gone."

The crackdown – codenamed Operation Ruby – involved more than 200 officers from police forces in Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, as well as from the UK Borders Agency and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The workers in Peterborough were some of the 60 men and women from countries which also included Poland and Lithuania, aged between 15 and 67, who were found working on land in Holbeach.

They were rescued and interviewed as potential witnesses by police in Kettering.

Allegations included workers housed in overcrowded and unsafe accommodation with breaches of gas and electrical safety regulations, while it is claimed one worker was run over by a leek rig.

Chairman of the Gangmaster's Licensing Authority Paul Whitehouse, said: "This was a scandalous set-up with no regard for the individuals who suffered."

n Nine people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and money laundering. Eight of them have been bailed pending further inquiries.