The protestors at Fruit of the Loom House, Halesfield 10, make their point over working conditions in Honduras.

Students played dead in front of a Telford building to protest about the alleged repression of workers thousands of miles away.

Protesters dressed in see-through hooded jumpsuits laid down in the pouring rain to be symbolically crushed by giant fruit outside Fruit of the Loom’s UK headquarters in Halesfield, to highlight conditions in a Honduras factory.

But the company’s European boss insisted he knew nothing about the claims and issued a statement in which the company denied any wrongdoing.

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One of the students read aloud a letter from Honduran trade unionists accusing the company of “unethical and inhumane” actions destroying the livelihood of 1,800 workers and their families.

It was part of an international boycott campaign in schools, universities and colleges to protest about conditions at a Honduran clothing factory owned by the Russell Corporation, a Fruit of the Loom subsidary.

Campaigners claim trade unionists there face death threats, targeted dismissal and eventual closure of the factory. Jim Cranshaw, one of the 20 students who took part in the protest, said: “Fruit of the Loom is a big supplier of clothing to the National Union of Students and we want to see its products boycotted.”

Len Marbury, Fruit of the Loom Europe chief executive, who was at the Telford base yesterday, said: “This is the first we have heard about this issue. We know nothing about it.”

His staff did, however, hand out a statement from Fruit of the Loom USA saying it was taking the international concerns of students seriously but adding the company was proud of its employment record in Honduras.

It denied the closure was anything to do with unionisation at the plant, insisting it was due to the global slump.

By Peter Johnson