The football World Cup could become a magnet for prostitutes and people traffickers, a West Midlands MEP warns.

Neena Gill (Lab West Midlands) urged police to crack down on gangs bringing women into Germany to work as prostitutes during the World Cup.

She called on British police to work closely with Europol, the trans-European force, to stamp the trade out. Many of the women involved would be underage, she said.

More than 100,000 England fans are expected to go to Germany for the tournament in June and July, joining hundreds of thousands of others from across the globe.

Ms Gill said thousands of women would arrive in Germany over the next few months to meet the demand for paid sex.

She has joined MEPs from across the EU to sign a petition calling on the European Commission to keep prostitution out of the World Cup.

It calls on the EU to exert pressure on governments to tighten up border controls and step up efforts to identify women and children who are being moved illegally through European countries to Germany.

Ms Gill said: "Human trafficking and forced prostitution are modern day forms of slavery." ..SUPL: