Bosses at a Leicester textiles factory have been order to do more to protect staff from coronavirus.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the unnamed business was one of three it was investigating.
It comes after reports that factories had been operating with poor social distancing during the recently reimposed lockdown in the city.
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At the weekend the Sunday Times said an undercover reporter spent two days working in a Leicester factory – which it said was making items destined for the Boohoo Group – where he was told to expect £3.50 an hour.
The minimum wage in Britain for anyone aged 25 and over is £8.72.
Since last week Boohoo shares have taken a battering, dropping from around £4.10 to £2.85.
Prior to that the share price had more than doubled since the start of the pandemic.
The £1.2 billion turnover group said such conditions were “totally unacceptable and fall woefully short of any standards acceptable in any workplace”.
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It said: “We are taking immediate action to thoroughly investigate how our garments were in their hands, and we will ensure that our suppliers immediately cease working with this company.”
Meanwhile other factory owners in the city have complained that they are being tarred with the same brush as the few accused of running sweatshops.
One said there has been little guidance for manufacturers throughout the lockdown and feel that the “narrative” around factories within national media has been unfair.
The city’s textile trade has more than 1,000 manufacturers.
While Public Health England and Leicester City Council have said there is no evidence to suggest textile factories are causing the virus to spread, campaigners have suggested employees are being forced to work in non-Covid-secure conditions.
An HSE spokesperson said: “We are working alongside Leicester City Council and others in the regulation of workplace health and safety and will work with the local public health authorities to support their understanding of any patterns of Covid-19 in Leicester.
“In Leicester we are actively investigating three textile businesses and one of these sites has been issued an Improvement Notice, requiring the business to take action to control the risk of Covid-19 in the workplace.
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“Friday’s multi-agency activity in Leicester further focused on the textile industry; we engaged with 11 businesses in total, 10 of those were site inspections.
“No notices were served and no businesses were shut down, however verbal advice was given to all of them in relation to the latest guidance on protecting workers from coronavirus risk.
“Further inquires are being made with a number of the businesses to ensure compliance with safer workplaces guidance.
“We will take enforcement action where necessary and will have continued interactions with key business across Leicester throughout the pandemic to ensure they are working in accordance with health and safety regulations and social distancing measures.
“Further spot inspections will take place in the area in the coming days and weeks to ensure businesses are Covid-secure.”
Leicester’s textile trade is also the centre of a political row with accusations that authorities in the city have failed to stamp out exploitation of workers and poor practice.
North West Leicestershire Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said he was contacted by industry whistleblowers asking the Government to deal with issues such as employers not paying the minimum wage.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has instructed the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate the allegations surrounding the textile trade in the city.
An NCA spokesman said: “Within the last few days NCA officers, along with Leicestershire Police and other partner agencies, attended a number of business premises in Leicester area to assess concerns of modern slavery and human trafficking.
“Tackling modern slavery is one of our highest priorities, and we are committed to working with partners across law enforcement, the private, public and charity sector to pursue offenders and protect victims.”
Deputy Leicester mayor Adam Clarke said: “Complaints about textiles factories operating during the lockdown in April were referred to the Health and Safety Executive for investigation.
“Last week we were made aware of other allegations.”
A council spokeswoman said: “It’s important to emphasise that councils have limited powers when it comes to these issues.
“They have no powers to check on working conditions inside a building, enforce the minimum wage, or monitor the legality of the workforce.”