A British woman allegedly held as a sex slave in Italy and raped repeatedly by three men managed to escape after calling her family for help, police say.

The woman, from the north of England, originally met Mamadou Jallow, a migrant from Burkina Faso, on Facebook and travelled with him to Rosarno, south-west Italy.

But when she arrived, she was allegedly held her against her will, raped repeatedly and had her mobile phone taken away. Two more men, from Mali, also abused her at the house, it has been claimed.

The woman, 39, was only able to escape when she managed to get access to her phone and made a secret call to her family for help. Eventually she escaped through a window and made her way to safety with the help of police.

A British woman allegedly held as a sex slave in Italy and raped repeatedly by three men managed to escape after calling her family for help. The woman, from the north of England, originally met one of the men, Mamadou Jallow (pictured), a migrant from Burkina Faso, on Facebook and travelled with him to Rosarno, south-west Italy

The woman met Jallow, 37, through Facebook and travelled to Germany to live with him.

But she claimed that he was forced to flee the country after knifing a rival during a drugs dispute and they ended up in Italy, local media reports.

When they arrived, it is claimed that Jallow emptied her bank account and forced her into a room at an isolated house and subjected her to sex attacks.

After two weeks, she was able to get access to her confiscated phone and made a desperate call to her family.

Jallow is accused of holding the British woman captive and raping her at an isolated house in southern Italy. He was arrested shortly after she escaped

They had already contacted Interpol having not heard from her for several months.

Police traced her mobile to the house, called her and convinced her to flee - giving her directions to follow

Jallow was arrested a short time later and accused of kidnapping, enslavement, aggravated and continued sexual violence and theft.

Two other suspects were also arrested.

A police spokesman said the woman was in a 'terrible state'. She is recovering from her ordeal in hospital.