BIRMINGHAM has become a UK hub for child sex trafficking, a children’s charity has warned.

Barnardo’s said that at least 100 children are being sexually exploited in the West Midlands.

And many of them are being trafficked into Birmingham from Wales – along the M4 corridor in the south and the A55 in the north.

Some are then sent to other areas of the region and across the country.

The charity, which already has one help centre in the city, is calling for more centres to deal with the increased illegal trade.

A spokesman said: “We worked with 100 young girls last year and five boys, but that doesn’t mean there were only 105 children who were at risk.

“We need more centres to be able to provide the kind of help and support that children are able to access in Birmingham.”

The revelations come as father and son Bogdan and Marius Nejloveanu were convicted of trafficking women from their native Romania to work in the sex trade in Birmingham.

Manchester Crown Court heard the pair worked as pimps in Bordesley Green and set up a new business in the northern city when rival pimps squeezed them out.

Barnardo’s new chief executive Anne Marie Carrie spoke out about the problem of child trafficking as she took up her post on Monday.