Homeworkers in Bradford are being paid as little as £1.50 an hour even though the national minimum wage is £4.20.

The shocking pay rates have been discovered by the National Group on Homeworking (NGH) which is running a project in the city. The Bradford Homeworking Project, which is being run in conjunction with the National Minimum Wage enforcement team, found thousands of homeworkers in Bradford are not being paid the minimum wage.

The majority of the city's homeworkers, who undertake jobs such as card packing and sewing, are being paid between £1.50 and £2 an hour, according to a survey. The study even found one homeworker in the city, who packed balloons for two weeks, was paid just 29p an hour.

She told the Bradford Homeworking Project: "I didn't know how much work was involved until I sat down to do it. I though it was never going to finish. It has put me off homeworking. I had to get the whole family involved and I was very stressed out because I had to finish it in a week, but it took me two weeks. It wasn't worth doing."

The Bradford Homeworking Project aims to raise awareness among homeworkers of their rights to a minimum wage.

The scheme, which has been running for the past 20 months, covers Bradford, Shipley and Keighley.

Nasreen Hussain, project worker, said: "There are many reasons why homeworkers are reluctant to come forward. Some are scared stiff of losing their work, others are pressured by family members not to complain.

"Some homeworkers may be claiming benefits and are concerned about the repercussions of asserting their right to the minimum wage. However, many homeworkers could be entitled to the minimum wage and to tax credit. Many could be much better of than they are now, and we can provide a confidential service to help them with this."

For information contact NGH on (0800) 174 095 or the Bradford Homeworking Project on (01274) 499 662.