London, Feb 23 : Chinese factory workers are working in slave like conditions to produce cheap computers for Britain.

An undercover team found that factory workers have long 12-hour shifts and female workers are not allowed to leave their seats or go to the toilet outside their break times. They earn 29 paise per hour.

Investigators claim that workers are often left with sore and swollen hands with guards patrolling with cameras, waiting to catch anyone resting or closing their eyes, The Mirror reported.

After finishing their shifts, workers sleep in tiny metal bunk beds, squeezed 10 or 12 into tiny, and squalid dormitories.

The horrific conditions came to light when investigators from the US-based National Labour Committee secretly contacted workers at the Metai factory in Dongguan City, helping them to smuggle out pay slips, copies of company rules and pictures taken inside the plant.

Investigators claimed that business is booming at the Chinese factory because of the surging demand in the West for cheap computers.

Most of the 2,000 workers are young women, aged 18 to 35. They work 87-hour, seven-day weeks making parts for big-name brands.

One worker said: "We are like livestock, not workers." (ANI)