Some Amazon warehouse staff have felt suicidal since joining the company, according to a survey.

In a poll of 100 workers, more than half said they suffered from depression and eight people said they'd thought about killing themselves.

The survey was carried out by Organise, which campaigns for employment unions.

In a poll of 100 workers, more than half said they suffered from depression and eight people said they'd thought about killing themselves

James Bloodworth, who worked ten-hour shifts at a warehouse in Rugeley, Staffordshire, claimed staff were peeing in bottles because they were scared of getting in trouble for taking toilet breaks.

The Rugeley warehouse measures 700,000 sq ft and some of the 1,200 workers face a ten minute, quarter-of-a-mile walk to two toilets on the ground floor of the four-storey building.

He said: 'For those of us who worked on the top floor, the closest toilets were down four flights of stairs.'

Mr Bloodworth, who worked as a picker selecting goods for dispatch, walked ten miles a day in the job to research for a book on low-wage Britain.

He revealed workers were continually monitored for time wasting by supervisors and claimed the strictness was what caused the 'toilet bottle' system.

A former worker who was based at the warehouse in Rugeley, Staffordshire, (shown) said staff were urinating in plastic bottles because they feared being punished for going to the toilets

Mr Bloodworth said: 'People just peed in bottles because they lived in fear of being ­disciplined over "idle time" and ­losing their jobs just because they needed the loo.'

He said the warehouse in Rugeley is like a prison with airport-style security ­scanners where workers are checked and patted down in case they steal.

'The security guards at Amazon were endowed with a great deal of power, which included the right to search your car if they suspected you of stealing something.'

Hoodies and sunglasses were banned along with mobile phones as a ­security measure, he said.

The staff surveyed anonymously by Organise also complained of being punished for being ill.

'I had an epilepsy episode at work and was taken to hospital. The next day someone rang me and asked why I was not in work,' one worker told the Sunday Mirror.

Nearly three quarters of those polled said they were so frightened of missing productivity targets that they'd starve themselves of water so they wouldn't need the toilet.

Amazon denies claims of workers' stress in its warehouses, saying they're not convinced the 'staff polled' actually worked for them.

A spokesperson for the company said: 'We haven't been provided with confirmation the people who completed the survey worked at Amazon.

'We don't recognise these allegations as an accurate portrayal of activities in our buildings.

'We have a focus on ensuring we provide a great environment for all our employees and last month Amazon was named by LinkedIn as the 7th most sought after place to work in the UK and ranked first place in the US.

'Amazon also offers public tours of its fulfillment centres so customers can see first-hand what happens after they click “buy” on Amazon.

'Amazon ensures all of its associates have easy access to toilet facilities which are just a short walk from where they are working.'