primark
A War on Want supporter demonstrated outside Primark in Oxford Street, London, on June 23, 2008, following an investigation by BBC's Panorama found that suppliers to the low-cost retailer had sub-contracted to smaller companies using child labour to manufacture clothes. Getty

Two more Primark shoppers have found labels inside their clothing criticising the company's poor working conditions.

Swansea shopper Rebecca Gallagher, 25, vowed never to wear her £10 Primark dress again after she spotted a label in the low-cost High Street shop that read: "Forced to work exhausting hours".

Now two more customers, Rebecca Jones, 21, of Porthcawl, South Wales, and a shopper in Northern Ireland, Karen Wisinska, have come forward claiming similarly disturbing finds.

Jones, who does not know Gallagher, bought a £10 dress in the same store in Swansea. Her label read: "Degrading sweatshop conditions".

"I was really shocked when I saw the label saying it was degrading sweatshop conditions," Jones said.

"I used to shop a lot at Primark but not so much now. The label has made me think about how my clothes are made.

"I have no idea who made the label or how it go it there - but it does make you think."

Wisinska claims to have uncovered a note in a pair of trousers she bought in Belfast. Her label allegedly read "Slave labour conditions in a Chinese prison making clothes for export."

"I was shocked to find this note and card inside the trousers from Primark and even more shocked to discover that it appears to have been made under slave labour conditions in a Chinese prison," Wisinska said.

"I am only sorry that I did not discover the note when I first purchased the clothing - then I could have brought this scandal to light much earlier."

The fashion store described the finds as "strange", and has asked the women to return the items for their investigation.

A spokesman said: "We are investigating the origins of an additional label which has been found in one of our dresses and whether there are issues which need to be looked into."

Of the Belfast purchase, the spokesperson added: "These crop trousers were last ordered by Primark in early 2009 and were last sold in Northern Ireland in October 2009.

"We find it very strange that this has come to light so recently, given that the trousers were on sale four years ago.

"We will be contacting the customer to obtain the trousers, so we can investigate how this occurred and whether there are issues which need to be looked into. Nine inspections of the supplier have been carried out by Primark's ethical standards team since 2009.

"To be clear, no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during these inspections. Primark is committed to making working conditions safer for those who manufacture its products."

In 2008, the fashion chain hit the headlines when its suppliers were found to be subcontracting labour to child workers.

Primark sacked three of its clothing suppliers after a BBC Panorama investigation revealed that young children in the refugee camps of southern India were working long hours in foul conditions to produce its cheap garments.