WORKERS at a recycling firm have raised concerns that they have not received pay from bosses for last month.

Staff from Northwood Environmental have contacted the Adver to say that there have been problems with wages for August, and in some cases the months leading up to this, which has left at least one of them facing eviction.

However, a director for the company, which is based at Hawksworth Industrial Estate, said they were aware of the issues and that the problem had been brought about by customers taking longer to pay them, causing cash flow problems.

Mitch Clark, 20, claims he is owed £545 from last month and has been handed an eviction notice by his landlord. He said he has made calls to Northwood but is still out of pocket.

“I’m losing my flat because of it. I haven’t been paid on time since I started. This is my fourth month. My landlord is getting ticked off because my rent isn’t just days late, it’s two or three weeks late,” said the recycling operative. “Some people are going to go to court. I spoke to the managing director this morning. He said the money was guaranteed this week, but it was guaranteed last week and the week before. He guarantees it every day we ring.”

Northwood Environmental employs more than 80 people and 97 per cent of its workforce is under the age of 25. The company recycles UPVC windows and doors, polystyrene, cardboard and plastic.

Richard North, 22, of Park South , who has now found a new job with a different company, claims he is £100 short of the £600 he was owed for last month’s work at Northwood.

“When you go there you are basically in a Catch 22 because if you start and then quit you have made yourself unemployed so you can’t get the dole,” he said.

Mavis Smith, of the town centre, phoned the Adver to say her 20-year-old son Joseph was owed four months’ wages totalling about £1,300.

MD James Jennings said: “There have been a couple of issues receiving the wrong amounts of pay this month. There have been late payments too. We are trying to address those where we possibly can.

“It is down to a situation affecting a lot of people in business at the moment. People are taking longer to pay us. We are working with them to try and make sure they pay us so we can make sure people are paid on time.

“To the best of my knowledge everybody this month has been paid. They may not have been paid the right amount. There were a couple of exceptions that have been due to bank details not being right. The worker who is owed a few months’ wages gave us the wrong bank details before. We are just trying to sort it out.”

Mr Jennings said it would not be a long term term problem. “I understand it is frustrating for everyone and I wish we could do more,” he said.

North Swindon MP, Justin Tomlinson , visited Northwood in August. He said: “While I was impressed with the organisation and the opportunities for their workforce they need to get a grip with their payroll issues for the sake of their staff.”