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Ambulances called 76 times to Sports Direct complex

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Ambulances have been called the headquarters of retail giant Sports Direct 76 times in two years, amid claims that staff are working under intolerable pressure.

Many of the calls to the postcode of the Sports Direct complex at Shirebrook, in Derbyshire, were for "life-threatening" illnesses.

Former workers of the company, which has one of the largest sports chains in Europe, have claimed that some staff were "too scared" to take sick leave because they feared being sacked.

The company has denied that staff are put under undue pressure.

The ambulances were dispatched to the distribution centre's postcode between January 2013 and December 2014, with 36 cases classed as "life-threatening", including chest pains, breathing problems, convulsions and strokes.

A further seven calls for ambulances were made but later cancelled.

The figures were revealed by BBC's Inside Out team who also said the service received three calls about women having pregnancy difficulties, including one who gave birth in toilets at the site.

The details have since been passed to the Health and Safety Executive which has said it will examine the data.

Staff, who are mainly employed by an agency, are subject to a 'six strikes' policy and face the sack for a range of misdemeanours, among them taking too long to go to the bathroom.

A document produced by one of the agencies states: "Any person who exceeds six strikes within a rolling six-month period will have their assignment at Sports Direct ended."

A relative of one former worker who was left partially paralysed after a stroke while working in the warehouse told the investigation team that he was "afraid to take even one day off" in case he lost his job.

However, the company founded by billionaire Mike Ashley denied that working conditions were unsafe.

"Sports Direct aims to provide working conditions in compliance with applicable employment and health and safety legislation and seeks to provide safe working conditions for all staff working in our warehouse.

"We have a good working relationship with our local environmental health officer and we work together to maintain and improve the safety of our working conditions."

The firm added that only 24 ambulances were called directly to its warehouse during the period covered by the Freedom of Information request.

Six call outs were about car accidents on a road or car park next to the centre, one was for a dog bite and at least two were for a different store on the same site.