A SECURITY company dumped by supermarket giant Asda has taken hundreds of pounds from its guards as a “parting shot,” the GMB union has alleged.

Hertfordshire-based firm Amberstone Guarding counts many top retail brands among its clients.

But it recently lost a lucrative contract providing security for Asda warehouses across Britain.

GMB has alleged that Amberstone deducted £220 from each worker in their final pay cheque, effectively making them pay for their own Security Industry Authority (SIA) licences.

The company touts the licence as a “benefit” to prospective workers and says the “company pays for renewal.”

“The unprecedented, mean-spirited move left many of the hard-working security guards in financial hardship,” GMB said in a statement.

GMB national officer Roger Jenkins said: “Amberstone’s leaving present to their hard-working employees was to line their own pockets and leave workers skint.

“I have honestly never seen a company stoop so low. They are the ultimate sore losers.

“Amberstone should hang their heads in shame. It is no surprise they lost this contract and the sooner they leave the security industry the better.”

The revelation comes as hundreds of Asda workers protested on Wedneday in Leeds against the imposition of a new contract that would slash their pay and conditions.

LICENCES

Anyone paid to provide “manned guarding” must have a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA), a Home Office body set up by the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

A three-year licence costs £220 and operating without a licence can result in a £5,000 fine and six months’ imprisonment.

Amberstone had not responded to requests for comment at the time of going to press.