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An Amazon warehouse set ablaze by a disgruntled employee after a row at work has been branded “hell on earth” by an ex-manager.

The former boss claimed staff were treated “in a horrible manner” in the lead-up to the fire and said: “I’m surprised no one tried to blow up the place.”

He spent 18 months working in Amazon’s fulfilment centres in Manchester and at Rugeley, Staffs – where £8million damage was caused last November when employee Adris Ali lit a fire.

Ali, 22, who was jailed for four years at Stafford Crown Court last week, blamed the arson attack on feeling “disrespected”.

The whistleblower contacted the Sunday Mirror after our undercover probe cast light on working conditions at the web shopping giant.

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

He said: “It was probably the worst place I ever set foot in.

“After the fire people joked that it was what Amazon got for treating people so badly and making them walk 20 miles a day in horrible conditions.”

The ex-manager, who has asked to remain anonymous, said ambulances were frequently called to the Rugeley warehouse.

He claimed workers – referred to as “associates” – were involved in accidents or collapsed with dehydration and exhaustion.

He said: “Associates just couldn’t take it any more. One fell from a ladder

on to a rack behind him and couldn’t move his back. ”

The whistleblower said staff were punished for taking too long to go to the toilet and had to find secluded corners to lie down for 10 minutes mid-shift because they were so tired.

He claimed others took to sleeping in train stations because they could not afford taxis home.

(Image: SWNS.com)

And he said they often missed the last bus when their shifts were extended to 55 hours a week and beyond. The ex-boss said: “We had three agencies employing staff and still couldn’t get enough in because everybody knew how terrible it was. If anybody didn’t like it, the answer was f*** off.”

He added: “Associates would often get warnings and managers would scream at them for doing things wrong.”

The revelations come after the Sunday Mirror exposed grim working conditions at Amazon’s state-of-the-art warehouse in Tilbury, Essex, last year.

We uncovered how staff fell asleep on their feet and ambulances were called to the site as workers collapsed.

An Amazon spokesman said: “These unsubstantiated allegations made by an individual dismissed for serious

misconduct aren’t credible and are inconsistent with the experience of the many thousands of people we employ.”

The spokesman said the public could see conditions for themselves by booking a place on a tour by visiting uk.amazonfctours.com.