Members of the construction industry who say they have been unable to find work after being "blacklisted" protested in Rickmansworth this morning.

The group of roughly 20 construction workers from the Unite union congregated on the High Street at 10am chanting "shame on you" in reference to construction company Royal Bam and its executive board director Martin Rogers, who allegedly lives in Rickmansworth.

Among the protestors who paraded up and down the High Street handing out leaflets to passers-by was Frank Morris - a former Unite union representative who was sacked from Crossrail in September 2012.

He believes he was blacklisted because he raised health and safety concerns while working at the Olympics site in Stratford.

Mr Morris, from Enfield, who had worked in the construction industry for 22 years before his dismissal, said he is now unable to find work and is facing bankruptcy.

He said: "Blacklisting was supposed to have stopped in 2009 and we believe one of the main instigators of that was Bam.

"We are hoping Martin Rogers will come out and speak to us today, we have contacted him through the company asking him to talk to us.

"We hope he will come down today."

"We are not asking for a lot, we are just asking for this practice to stop."

The scale of blacklisting in the construction industry was revealed in 2009 when the Information Commissioner's office raided the Consulting Association - which carries out checks on construction workers without their knowledge.

Michael Meacher MP said of the practice: "Blacklisting is arguably the worst human rights abuse against workers in the UK since the war.

"It is worse than imprisonment in that is is usually on the victim without his being given any opportunity to defend himself and it lasts for an indefinite period - often decades."

Bam Construction and Bam Nuttall both used services of the Consulting Association according to the Information Commissioner's Office.

According to Unite, Bam Nuttall paid more than £38,000 for checks carried out between 1996 and 2009.

A statement from Mr Rogers said: "BAM does not engage in blacklisting. Blacklisting has no place in the construction industry or any sector.

"BAM has a good reputation as an employer and always tries to maintain good relationships with trade unions in sectors in which it operates."