A Welsh woman found the worrying hand-stitched message beneath the care instructions.

Rebecca Gallagher, from Swansea, was searching for washing machine instructions on her €12 Primark dress when she found a message saying “Forced to work exhausting hours”.

Rebecca told the South Wales Evening Post that the chilling label made her rethink the cost of a bargain buy:

"You hear all sorts of stories about people working in sweatshops abroad -- it made me feel so guilty that I can never wear that dress again".

"I dread to think that my summer top may be made by some exhausted person toiling away for hours in some sweatshop abroad".

The 25-year-old believes the message was a cry for help to let British people know what is happening to Primark’s workers overseas.

The mum of one tried in vain to contact the retailer, saying:

"I even rung Primark to ask them about it. But I was put on hold for 15 minutes before being cut off".

"I would dread to think that this might involve child labour and people's terrible working conditions".

Primark was one of the companies which was supplied with clothes made by workers who were killed in the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse last year.

Unlike other brands, Primark offered full compensation to the families of deceased workers.

However, this controversy is the last thing the company needs before it opens its stores in the United States.

A Primark spokesperson told the South Wales Evening Post that there were “no other incidents of this kind".

The spokesperson added,

We are currently investigating the origins of an additional label which has been found in one of our dresses. http://t.co/n76M7IoFWL — Primark (@Primark) June 23, 2014

"We would be grateful if the customer would give us the dress, so we can investigate how the additional label became attached and whether there are issues which need to be looked into".

Online Editors