Around 43% of Uzbekistan's cotton is exported to Asia and 19% to Europe, and human rights groups estimate that some 450,000 children are shut out of schools to work in its cotton fields every harvest.

Continental Clothing was featured in the documentary as it has already taken a strong line on this issue – having labelled all its garments with the country of origin of the cotton since September.

Mariusz Stochaj, head of products, explained: “Our line on this whole issue has been to do with traceability, which is a big buzz word at the moment.We have traced our cotton all the way back to the producer to assure customers that none of it comes from Uzbekistan, and it isn't difficult, as long as all the parties are willing to take part.”

Continental is now calling for the rest of the industry to do the same and claims that tracing the cotton is not difficult because there is always a paper trail. “It is important to be able to tell consumers where the cotton comes from and let them make their own choices,” added Stochaj.

He said the company had already approached companies within the industry to suggest they join in the campaign to provide some transparency in the chain, and so far had received a positive response.

But Stochaj doesn't think things will change overnight: “It will probably take time to filter through the changes, but the most important thing is that people are aware of the problem now and will want to be on the right side of the argument,” he said.

He added: “Anyone who watched the programme would have found it astonishing and very depressing. It really hit home the message and the fact it was Newsnight adds the highest credibility to it all.”

Continental now only uses cotton from organic suppliers, or those that are in the process of converting to organic, and says the cost of using organic in conversion is only 3% to 5% more expensive than conventional cotton.

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