FASHION brands must set a deadline for paying living wages to workers along their supply chains, the charity Fairtrade Foundation is urging today.

The charity is insisting that the fashion industry should make sure a fair price is paid for labour despite people's "obsession" with cheap garments.

Fairtrade said it was easy to lose touch with how much clothes cost to produce when retailers cut prices or offer bargains.

"Too many fashion brands and retailers are still just paying lip service to living wages for textile workers," said Fairtrade's cotton and textile manager Subindu Garkhel.

"Several have made public statements supporting minimum wage hikes, but none have published any tangible time-bound results showing their efforts to reach these goals, so these commitments are all shirt and no trousers."

She added that an on-site support programme at factories in collaboration with local NGOs and trade unions can help deliver change for garment workers.

Around £27 billion is spent on clothes in Britain every year, the charity said.