Spanish authorities arrested the pair in Valencia on 1 August before they were transported back to the UK by Merseyside Police, a statement this morning by the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) reveals.

Alexander Goran, of no fixed address, has been charged with acting as an unlicensed gangmaster and conspiring to commit fraud by abuse of position, while Ana Marie Goran, also of no fixed address, has been charged with aiding and abetting an unlicensed gangmaster and the same fraud offence.

The pair appeared before Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday 30 August after failing to attend a previous hearing earlier in the year, and have been remanded in custody to appear before Liverpool Crown Court on Friday 27 September for a pre-trial preparation hearing.

The suspects, both Romanian nationals, were the subject of a European Arrest Warrant issued in relation to investigations started by the GLAA last year into potential exploitation of workers in Merseyside and surrounding areas.

Forty-one Romanian workers were found by GLAA officers during the multi-agency operation in Liverpool in March last year.

Last month, two people were convicted in connection with the investigation, known as Operation Brewer.

Josh Beesley, of Wigan, was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting an unlicensed gangmaster and conspiring to commit fraud by abuse of position; while Christopher Beech, of Congleton, was handed a suspended sentence and community order for the same gangmaster offence.