Victims of human trafficking are being failed by the UK's official system for identifying their abuse, a harrowing investigation by Sky News shows.

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is encountering record numbers of children and young people who claim to be victims of trafficking or modern slavery.

Home Office guidance states that officials must determine whether a person is a victim within 45 days of their case being registered, to ensure action by relevant agencies.

Freedom of information requests submitted by Sky News show that the NRM is dangerously slow to recognise victims - taking an average of 553 days.

Jamie Fookes, of Anti-Slavery International, said: "The delays are getting worse and worse and worse and worse. And that is a huge hindrance to the recovery of the individuals in the NRM.

Sky News heard concerns that some potential victims are being de-prioritised because they are British. British victims account for a third of all modern slavery victims registered last year.

Robyn Phillips from the Human Trafficking Foundation said: "A number of British survivors of modern slavery have told us that because they speak English, they've been perceived as less vulnerable or traumatised".

"Despite being the highest nationality referred into the NRM, it's only in the past year that the voices of British survivors are being heard", he added.

"Housing has been another obstacle, with British survivors often not qualifying for NRM safe house accommodation because the local authority...are not recognising them as 'priority need'."

CARE campaigns on behalf of human trafficking victims and has fought for a right to at least 12 months of statutory support for people identified as victims through the NRM.

To find out more about our work in this area visit our cause page: CARE for Human Trafficking