National Recruitment Ltd, trading as Cotterell and Gifford, withheld wages to two workers for work they did in December 2015 and February 2016. Director Nicholas Brown was also guilty of failing to provide the right information to his workers when they started their jobs.

As well as a five-year disqualification, Brown must pay compensation to the workers and fines totalling £5,154 after a government prosecution resulting in a hearing at Bristol Magistrates’ Court.

The prosecution followed an investigation by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate based on a worker complaint.

Kelly Tolhurst, small business minister, said: ‘Workers deserve to be paid for the work they do. We take complaints from workers seriously and will take action against employers that wilfully ignores the law and exploits workers.

‘We are going further to enhance and protect the rights of all workers. In our Good Work plan we have set out new plans to make agency workers more aware of their rights and give them the right to request a more predictable contract.’

Report by Pat Sweet