An MP has accused Sports Direct of attempting to secretly record a meeting she was taking part in by hiding a camera under a platter of sandwiches.
A group of MPs visited the Sports Direct warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, to inspect working conditions after a damning parliamentary committee inquiry into the company forced owner Mike Ashley to apologise to his staff.
Following the politicians' tour of the factory, the six MPs from the business select committee went to a meeting room to discuss what they'd seen in the warehouse after the surprise visit and have some refreshments.
The MPs spotted something suspicious about the platter of sandwiches they had been offered, and the MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, claims she found a recording device underneath it.
Turley posted photos of the alleged recording device found under the sandwiches on Twitter.
Here is another pic from a colleague. This is where it was hidden & where I found it before picking it up & placing… https://t.co/UyR1tSdhQe
Here is the camera I found which was placed under the stool on which the sandwiches were placed for our private mee… https://t.co/l2av7rN7Jj
After the meeting, Turley told The Guardian: “The sandwich lady came in and she put them on [a stool] in the corner. I watched her do it because I thought it was a bit weird her putting them in the corner of the room rather than where we were sitting. I saw her kneel down and put a device under the stool.
“I watched her and waited until she got out of the room and I went over and it was a camera that [Sports Direct representatives] had with them on the visit, [when] they were recording every question we asked and everything we said.”
Turley added on Twitter that she found the entire incident "bizarre" and felt sorry for the woman who brought in the sandwiches.
The poor woman who brought in a tray of sandwiches had to try & hide a camera under the table #bizarre https://t.co/4ukNHolNYC
Fellow MP and chairman of the business select committee Iain Wright accused Sports Direct representatives of treating the group with "hostility" and using "diversionary tactics" to avoid the areas of the warehouse that had been criticised most heavily in the report.
Following publication of the report in September, Ashley sent an email to all 29,000 of his staff apologising for the "shortcomings" laid bare by it, and promised to improve working conditions in the Shirebrook warehouse.
In response to Turley's allegations, a statement from Sports Direct doubted the accuracy of the recording device allegation and said it was distracting from an otherwise positive visit from the MPs.
"The board is disappointed that reporting of a possible recording device (the veracity of which has yet to be determined) has overshadowed the truly important issues that this visit should have focused on – the true working conditions and worker satisfaction at Shirebrook," read the statement.
"The board would like to make it clear that it did not authorise or have any knowledge of the possible recording device."
Commenting on the visit, Ashley said: "I stand firmly behind the people of Sports Direct, who through no fault of their own have been made a political football by MPs and unions.".