A new Channel 4 documentary will show how police brought down a human trafficking network in Cheltenham.

The first episode of Taken: Hunting the Sex Traffickers will air at 9pm on Monday.

The three-part series follows the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the Spanish Policia Nacional's operation into a crime group believed to be trafficking women into the UK from Brazil.

An investigation was launched after Gloucestershire Police received an anonymous tip off.

Documentary crews were embedded within the investigation and covert teams over three years as they gathered evidence against the group.

Director Peter Beard said: “This was an incredibly exciting opportunity to be at the heart of something we’ve never seen in a documentary before.

"At times I felt as though we were in a spy thriller but meeting the victims of trafficking brought home the reality that these women face. The stakes are so high.”

Channel 4's Alisa Pomeroy said: “Never before have we seen this level of highly sensitive, covert policing on British TV, bringing to light the police’s important work in bringing perpetrators of human trafficking to justice.”