‘Satanic mill’ label for firms

JD Sports and Asos have been accused of running their warehouses like“satanic mills” after alarming new figures showed ambulance call-outs to their sites have rocketed, reigniting concerns over working conditions.

Figures show JD Sports had 40 call-outs to its troubled Rochdale site last year, while ambulances were sent 45 times to Asos’ unit in Barnsley – a rate of almost one every week. Ambulances have been dispatched to JD Sports’ Greater Manchester premises 117 times over the past three years and 148 times to the Asos warehouse in South Yorkshire.

The revelations are likely to reignite concerns over working conditions at Britain’ s warehouses following a spate of high-profile scandals.

Matt Draper, from the Unite union, said :“The ware houses of some companies risk becoming the dark satanic mills of the 21st century.”