Agencies looking for casual workers are targeting Bradford in the run-up to Christmas.

Adverts offering good pay for "packhouse" staff have attracted several T&A readers wanting to earn extra cash for presents and little luxuries.

But experts say the workers' employment rights may be at risk.

One woman from the Horton area - who has asked not to be identified - told Rights and Wrongs about her experience after phoning the number in an advert looking for 100 packhouse staff for work in the Bradford area.

The ad was placed by David Green, who runs The Rapid Staff agency in Sheffield.

"Usually they give you the name and address of the agency and you go for an interview and register with them," she said.

"But there was nothing like that - they didn't ask for my National Insurance number. "I just got a phone call back next day asking if I could go to work in Peterborough.

"I said the advert said the work was in the Bradford area and I was told there wasn't any here.

"I have always worked in pharmaceuticals and I didn't know what packhouse work was - she said it could be packing anything and the pay would be 35p a bundle - anything from magazines to vegetables."

She was picked up at 3pm that afternoon by a man driving a minibus who refused to tell her his name, where they were going or who she would be working for. He made several stops in Bradford, collecting other people, and set off. Near Peterborough she said he had a conversation on his mobile phone and then told his passengers they were not needed and he would take them back to Bradford.

"He said we had earned £35 and the people we were working for would pay us.

"He told us to tell them we had broken down. I pointed out we didn't know who our employers were because he and the others wouldn't tell us.

"He said it would be cash in hand and to forget my National Insurance number. He said he would pick us up the next day - but he never arrived."

The woman phoned the agency again and was asked to be ready at 4.30am to go to Boston in Lincolnshire to pack cabbages but the driver failed to turn up again. She has not tried to contact them since.

"It was an unpleasant experience and I would advise anyone thinking about packhouse work to forget it," she said.

Steve McLoughlin, from Holme Wood, was also picked up on that trip and he confirmed he was also told he would be paid £35 for his time.

"I was hoping to earn a bit of extra cash for Christmas," he said. "We have tried phoning the number since but it's dead."

The Sheffield number in the advertisement is unobtainable but Rights and Wrongs managed to contact Mr Green, who said he was driving the minibus on that occasion.

He denied he had told them to forget National Insurance or that he had said they would be paid.

"They were all asked on the phone for their National Insurance number because it goes on our application forms," he said."They weren't told they would get paid. It's common knowledge in this game you don't get paid for going down there - for travelling time."

An ACAS spokesman said: "People need to ensure the arrangements they enter into are sound and above board otherwise their normal employment rights may not be enforceable."

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