Not enough is being done to stop human traffickers forcing young foreign women into prostitution in Britain, according to the head of London's vice squad.

Chief Superintendent Simon Humphrey told the BBC the practice amounted to a "crime against humanity" and it should be taken more seriously.

He accused the government of not doing enough, when compared with other countries.

I fail to see how we as a mature society can turn our back on people

Simon Humphrey

But ministers have denied the charge.

In an interview on BBC World Service's Assignment programme, Mr Humphrey, head of London Vice Squad, said: "The vice trade is one which people can, if they wish to, turn a blind eye.

"But I fail to see how we as a mature society can turn our back on people."

He believes the government would react differently if the women were from Britain.

"Just because the majority of the women in this industry are from eastern Europe, it should not be a reason for not actually treating it with the utmost seriousness because we're dealing with crimes against humanity."

Organised crime

The Home Office rejected his claims as "ridiculous".

Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes told Assignment the government was working closely with the police and has arrested dozens of traffickers.

And she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that she agreed people trafficking was an "absolutely appalling crime that has got to be tackled very robustly".

In the past two years the government and the police had developed a comprehensive and sophisticated approach involving legislation, victim protection, enforcement and intelligence.

"We are making it tough ... we are doing all we can," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Since April 2001, its multi-agency task force has led raids to disrupt more than a dozen organised crime groups, resulting in almost 70 arrests.

A United Nations and International Labour Organisation conference in London last December heard that up to 6,000 women and children from eastern Europe were brought to Britain, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands each year, destined to enter the sex trade.

Mr Humphrey said the only winners in the multi-million pound industry were the human traffickers and pimps.