A MAN trafficked Eastern Europeans into the country so he could exploit them collecting used clothes for charity, a jury has been told.

Nerijus Gudelevicius, 34, is said to have 'coaxed penniless Lithuanian nationals' with promises of jobs and accommodation.

But once they arrived Gudelevicius demanded their passports, Swindon Crown Court was told, then said they owed him for their travel and board.

The jury were told he had put them up in two bed terrace on Hunt Street with no heating and hot water where up to 12 people, including a child, lived at any one time.

And if they complained he would threaten them, saying they would not have a job so also faced losing the roof over their head, the court heard.

He even brought one couple over from Holland after they read about promises of hundreds of pounds a week with a house and car in an online ad, the jury were told.

Gudelevicius, of Melrose Close, Westlea, denies two counts of people trafficking and four of requiring a person to perform forces of compulsory labour.

Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, said the Lithuanian defendant's company collected used clothing for charity Dreams Come True.

In the financial year up to April 2012 he said Gudelevicius's business turned over just short of £100,000 by putting the collection bags through people's doors.

But in February and March of last year he said people who had been lured to work for him started to contact the police about what was going on.

One man said that the defendant had stolen his passport after he asked to leave while others complained he was keeping their pay for rent or travel, the court heard.

Mr Shaw told the jury: "The case involves the exploitation of vulnerable Lithuanian nationals and forcing them to work in a business here in Swindon.

"He coaxed penniless Lithuanian individuals from abroad and around the UK with assurances of paid work and accommodation.

"These people came to him in the hope of a better life and employment but found that the defendant intended to exploit them and trap them in to working for little or no money.

"He housed them in a property and charged them rent in advance. They weren't held prisoner but were trapped economically, if you like.

"He saddled them with debts which he said they owed him. They had little English and a lack of understanding of UK employment laws.

"By the structure he created of requiring them to work long hours, with the penalty that otherwise they would lose their accommodation and they would become more indebted to him, he was compelling them to work for him in very different circumstances to those they thought they were signing up for."

He said the workers were picked up in a van at 5am and taken to either deliver the empty bags or collect full ones, returning between 6pm and 7pm.

They each had to deliver more than 1,000 bags a day, with no time off, and were not given breaks or food and drink, Mr Shaw said.

"This, the Crown says, amounts to compulsory labour. Compulsory labour involved a degree of coercion and deception.

"It involves forcing someone to work with menaces: the menace here being that someone would lose their accommodation, with terms they didn't sign up to. This work wasn't voluntary from their point of view."

When he was questioned by the police Gudelevicius insisted he was running a legitimate business and his staff, who were self-employed, knew what they were agreeing to.

He said he never asked for their passports but said as he paid their travel to Swindon he needed a security from them until it was repaid, and it is what they normally gave.

Gudelevicius denies all the charges and the trial continues.