BBC journalists were denied entry to the workers' living area of one of McLeod Russel's estates, and were even imprisoned briefly within the factory compound, while investigating conditions of tea workers, who are vulnerable to exploitation because the plantations control so many aspects of their lives. The right of public access is supposed to enable people to visit them to check on their welfare. The BBC investigation found workers were living in broken houses with terrible sanitation, that wages were so low that tea workers and their families were left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses, and that there was a disregard for health and safety, with workers spraying chemicals without protection, and on some estates, child labour being used. Several of Britain's biggest tea brands, including PG Tips, Tetleys and Twinings, said they will work to improve the tea estates they buy from in India after the investigation. Assam Company called the BBC's allegations "baseless and false".