TWO people were last night being questioned after police investigating sex trafficking raided a guest house and seven other buildings in Oxford.

The Athena Guest House, in Cowley Road, and seven other properties in Oxford were targeted by officers on Thursday after reports of “possible prostitution and sexual exploitation”.

A 45-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of intentionally arranging or facilitating entry into the UK of a person with a view to engaging in sexual exploitation.

They were still in police custody last night.

As well as the front of the Cowley Road B&B, residents said police also searched an annexe to the rear of the building and a separate house in neighbouring Southfield Road.

Thames Valley Police did not release any further details on where they had searched.

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Four women were helped by specially-trained police officers and social workers from both Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council.

Thames Valley Police would not confirm if they raided the properties as part of a wider investigation.

Nor would they comment on when they were first informed of concerns about the properties.

Oxford Mail:

The Athena Guest House

Josh Nutton, an Oxford Brookes University student, who lives in Southfield Road, said: “There’s always quite a lot of coming and going. You see a lot of cars pull up and people going in.”

The 21-year-old, who moved to the road in September, said: “The police have gone around before in smaller numbers and nothing happens.

“It’s happened maybe two or three times since we moved in.”

A 22-year-old female student, who did not want to be named but lives in the street, said: “There are always a lot of men around.

“Every night when I walk home they watch me go up to my door.

“I try not to go past alone at night. It’s intimidating.”

Paul Flower, 68, has lived in Southfield Road more than 30 years and said: “It’s shocking to know it’s so close to our home, that these things could happen in our neighbourhood.

“You would have thought you would have seen something.”

Another Southfield Road resident, who did not want to be named, called police as she was concerned about women in the street last month. She said: “There was a very violent man who was shouting at some young adult girls.

“He was loud and frightening. He wasn’t speaking English. It was a language I didn’t know.”

Oxford Mail:

A police officer searching the guest house

She added: “There used to be a load of very, very expensive cars being parked here every night with foreign plates. Then we began seeing young women upstairs.”

Other groups involved in the raid included the Kingfisher Unit, set up in the wake of Operation Bullfinch sex exploitation trial, Oxford City Council and the Elmore Independent Trauma Adviser Team.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said the woman who were removed “are now being assessed as regards any possible future needs”.

Dee Sinclair, the city council’s board member for crime, said: “We will continue to join forces with the police and other partners to tackle crime.

“The combination of police powers and regulatory powers available to local authorities means no stone is left unturned in targeting perpetrators, while ensuring that victims are given the support they need.”

The proprietors of the Athena Guest House did not respond to the Oxford Mail’s requests for a comment.

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