THE allegations about the work practices in one of the North-East's major "sunrise" industries are extremely distressing.

The Guardian newspaper yesterday claimed that at Woo One in Hartlepool, a supplier of Samsung at Wynyard, illegal Chinese immigrants work 16 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week for £250. To sleep, they are crammed into a hostel. The paper claimed that there are up to 80 such unfortunates working on Teesside and that one of their number died after a 24-hour shift stamping the word Samsung on microwave ovens.

Samsung's arrival in the North-East is seen as one of the region's biggest industrial coups, second only to the luring of Nissan.

That image was tempered in 1995 - even before the Queen had officially opened the plant - when it was discovered that the company was paying wages as low as £129-a-week.

Companies like Samsung were attracted to the North-East by huge sweeteners - £56m in Samsung's case. Woo One itself received £250,000 from the British Government in 2000 to assist its expansion.

These firms must now prove that they are fulfilling their sides of the bargain. Samsung must investigate immediately and thoroughly. Samsung must know that it is not morally right for it to profit from work practices as unpleasant as those alleged.

Our regeneration companies and development agencies must also take a stand. Their mantra of the North-East's future being as a high-skilled, high-wage economy looks rather hollow if such practices are found in the "sunrise" industries that they have spent tax-payers' money attracting and supporting.

In 1998, Hartlepool used Woo One in a TV advertisement to promote its industrial capabilities.

But now it is claimed that Woo One has turned the town into the sweatshop capital of the country. When coupled to last year's perception that it was the dumping ground for America's unwanted ships, this is an appalling blow to the image of Hartlepool and the North-East in general.