A TELESALES company which set up shop in a County Durham market town is being investigated for alleged employment offences.

Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman has stepped in to raise the alarm over the apparent "modern day exploitation" of young people who say they have been left unemployed and out of pocket by Win Win Management.

One of the former employees affected is 20-year-old Jade Kemp, of Shildon, who told The Northern Echo she was sacked two weeks after informing the business she was pregnant.

In a letter sent to a number of bodies including Durham Police, which is investigating the firm, Ms Goodman called for everything that could be done to secure payment for the young people to be done as a matter of urgency.

She said: "This situation is urgent as the young people are owed money and most of them are now unemployed with no recourse to welfare support."

The group of people, mainly aged between 16 and 22, worked for the company at Bishop Auckland's Masonic Hall from November last year to last month.

It is alleged the company insisted on unpaid work trials of up to a month, told staff to mislead customers, failed to provide contracts or pay slips, took incorrect deductions from pay of up to £400, terminated employment without correct notice periods and failed to pay outstanding wages.

Miss Kemp first spotted the job on a friend's Facebook post and contacted the number advertised.

"I had just found out I was pregnant and had quit my job two weeks before that because I wasn't keen on the hours," said Miss Kemp, who dropped out of Bishop Auckland College in order to gather some funds in time for the baby's arrival.

The young woman was invited to what she believed would be an interview, but was told straight away to start work from the Monday.

"I was a bit naive. I just thought 'brilliant, that's one thing I don't need to worry about'," she said.

However, when she turned up to work she was told it would be an unpaid one-week trial – which turned into two after failing to "pass" first-time round.

During her time she said conditions were poor, forcing her to tell her employer about her pregnancy earlier than she hoped.

"The place was an absolute dump," she said. "They told us they were going to fix it up but never did.

"The kitchen was infested with rats and there was no heating.

"At one point there was seven of us gathered round one blow heater because if we had more than one on the electrics would blow."

Miss Kemp said fellow workers were sacked throughout January and February and she herself had her employment terminated two weeks after telling the company of her pregnancy.

She said she was still owed an outstanding £1,300 and others were left high and dry following the Bishop Auckland base's closure.

Miss Kemp, who lives with her mother, said: "I'm 31 weeks pregnant and I'm having to pick between petrol in the care so [my partner] can get fuel or food. The only way I could survive was to live off food that was really cheap and would fill you up – nothing nutritional for the baby."

Ms Goodman first raised the case in Work and Pensions questions at the end of March when she asked Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey, what she would do about employers breaching workers' rights.

At the time, the minister replied that the government would "not stand by any bad employer" and asked the MP to be more specific about the anecdote referring to her constituency.

A spokesperson for HMRC said they were not able to comment on individual tax payers while a spokeperson for Durham Police said: “We can confirm we are investigating a telesales company in Bishop Auckland in relation to alleged employment offences. Enquiries are ongoing.” Win Win Management, which appears to be based in Nantwich, Cheshire, was contacted by The Northern Echo for a comment but has yet to receive a response