AN OXFORDSHIRE hotel and a plumbing company have bee named and shamed alongside national retail chain Debenhams for failing to pay their workers minimum wage, in a major government investigation.

The owners of Fallowfields Country House Hotel in Southmoor - Anthony and Peta Lloyd - failed to pay six workers a total of £19,436.88.

The establishment is now closed as a hotel.

Kenneth Belcher, trading as MBFI Plumbing Services in Didcot, failed to pay one worker £130.

The figures have been released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy along with the names of 358 other businesses across the county who underpaid workers the national minimum or living wage.

In total the 360 businesses across the UK underpaid 15,520 workers a total of £995,233, with employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and retail sectors the most prolific offenders.

Topping the list was Debenhams, which failed to pay £134,894.83 to 11,858 workers.

More than 15,500 of the UK’s lowest-paid workers have already received back pay thanks to the government investigations.

As well as recovering arrears for some of the UK’s lowest paid workers, HMRC issued penalties worth around £800,000.

For the first time, the naming list includes employers who failed to pay eligible workers at least the new National Living Wage rate, which is currently £7.20 for workers aged 25 and over.

Business Minister Margot James said: "Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum or living wage and this government will ensure they get it.

"That is why we have named and shamed more than 350 employers who failed to pay the legal minimum, sending the clear message to employers that minimum wage abuses will not go unpunished."

Excuses for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking workers’ wages to pay for their Christmas party and making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary.