A Polish woman is set to take a Luton fairtrade banana company to an employment tribunal after she claims she suffered a miscarriage because of the way it treats its workers.

SH Pratt in Laporte Way is facing a barrage of criticism about supervisors shouting and swearing at workers, refusing to allow them to take toilet or food breaks and staff being forced to work long hours six or even seven days a week.

Luton South MP Margaret Moran, who recently asked agency staff to get in touch with her if they are suffering at work, said no SH Pratt employees had been in touch, but vowed to investigate if they contacted her.

One former worker, Magdalena Stejbach, claimed her request to undertake lighter duties during a problematic pregnancy was refused, leading her to lose her baby.

Her GP Dr Nina Pearson confirmed that a colleague at Lea Vale Medical Group in Liverpool Road saw Mrs Stejbach after she started bleeding during her pregnancy, giving her a sick note to present to the company and telling her to take it easy at work.

Mrs Stejbach said: "I have to work – I need money for food, for my rent. I have to do everything like the others, but I'm pregnant, I have a problem.

"If I was to start bleeding, I care about my child, I'm scared and I was told: 'I don't have another work for you, I don't have another place.'

"I don't want to think about what's happened. It's still really hard for me. Probably I will think about it until the end of my life."

An investigation by Radio 4's Today programme, broadcast yesterday morning, saw secret recording equipment placed in the factory, which picked up supervisors shouting and swearing at staff.

Other workers came forward to speak anonymously about the conditions at the company.

A statement from SH Pratt, which supplies Waitrose, Tesco and other supermarkets, said: "The welfare and safety of workers is of paramount importance to SH Pratt and we take the allegations raised by the Today programme very seriously.

"We are in the process of undertaking a thorough and detailed investigation regarding working conditions at the SH Pratt plant in Luton. Following our investigations, should we identify occasions where guidelines on the treatment of workers were not followed, we will take immediate action to ensure this doesn't happen again

For more on this story see the May 24 edition of the Herald&Post.