A man who claims he was a slave for 10 years feared his alleged captors would find him if he escaped – a court heard.

Cameron Biggar, 43, made a 999 call on Christmas Day, 2014, which led to police finding him in a campervan at the back of a house in Watford Road, St Albans.

Mr Biggar alleges Johnny Maloney, 26, a member of a family of travellers, made him do unpaid work for 14-hours-a-day, up to seven days a week over a 10 year period.

Mr Moloney, aka Murphy, denied charges of knowingly holding a person in slavery and knowingly requiring another person to perform forced labour at the start of the trial at St Albans Crown Court.

On Tuesday, jurors were given details of the call made by Mr Biggar.

Prosecuting barrister Peter Shaw said: “Mr Biggar was a vulnerable man in a vulnerable state in 2004. He was not in a great place, physically or mentally.

“May I remind the jury of what Mr Biggar, said to the caller, when he called 999 on Christmas day 2012.

“He said to the caller ‘I want to be protected from slavery”, and “What will happen to me, will the travellers be able to find me?”.

“I urge you [the jury] to convict Mr Moloney on both charges.”

It is alleged Mr Biggar was forced to carry out work in places including Manchester, Birmingham, Ireland and Norway and lived in a campervan after being picked up by Mr Moloney in 2004.

However, defence barrister Lewis Power QC told the court room the alleged victim was given money for the work.

“Mr Biggar was paid and used the money to buy food and drink,” he said.

Mr Power went onto to tell the jury not to let the image of travellers portrayed in the media affect their verdict.

He said: “As we are dealing with a travelling community, you must as they saying goes, walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

“As with how the travelling community is portrayed, there have been shows on Channel 4, that have interested the public because of its nature.

“It shows extreme insight into the travelling way of life. Not to say you can assess this in a different way, because Mr Moloney is a traveller.

“We all know about miscarriages of justice in this country. This is not a dress rehearsal, you have one chance to come to the right decision.”

On Monday, judge Andrew Bright QC dropped charges on Mr Moloney’s wife, Shanon Loveridge.

The trial continues.