A BOYCOTT has been urged of Swindon bra manufacturer Triumph International because of its business links with the controversial Burmese regime.

The company, which employs 200 at its Groundwell headquarters, admits to paying the 1,000 workers at its Burma factory just 60p a day.

A pressure group called the Burma Campaign believes any western company with business interests in Burma is indirectly supporting a military dictatorship which has been charged with a catalogue of human rights abuses.

It has launched its campaign against Triumph with the emotive image of a woman wearing a barbed wire bra and the slogan 'Support Breasts not Dictators'.

The Burma Campaign, which counts Glenys Kinnock and Sir David Steel amongst its patrons, has previously persuaded BHS, Burton Group and River Island to severe their business links with Burma.

Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, said: "Foreign capital has served to strengthen the very dictatorship that oppresses and impoverishes the people of Burma. Members of the public unwittingly play a part in sustaining military rule in Burma when they buy goods from companies, like Triumph, who operate there."

The Burmese regime has been accused of employing forced labour and torture and keeping thousands of political prisoners. In 1997 the United States instituted trade sanctions against the country.

Triumph International spokeswoman Sue Loader said there is no evidence that the campaign has yet affected UK sales.

She said that in the Burma factory employees work a 48-hour week and their wages are comparable with those of a middle-ranking government official. She added that none of the garments manufactured there are imported to the UK and said that the factory accounts for one per cent of the company's total global production.

She said: "In keeping with the whole Triumph Interna-tional Group the welfare of our employees is of paramount importance. Triumph would be unhappy to bow to political pressure and sack 1,000 workers in Myanmar (Burma)."

Triumph International has had a UK base in Swindon for 30 years. It employs 36,000 people worldwide and manufactures in 18 different countries.

"Consumers can take direct action against a company prepared to bolster one of the world's most corrupt and brutal dictatorships by boycotting all Triumph products until the company withdraws from the country."