HIGH STREET chains B&Q and Five Guys were among hundreds of businesses slapped with up to £7 million in government fines for paying staff below the minimum wage today.

A total of 658 firms including shops, restaurants, nurseries, social care providers and NHS trusts have been ordered to pay affected workers their outstanding wages, with £4m returned.

The underpayments were identified in an HMRC review.

Companies included Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group, which failed to pay more than £123,000 to 75 workers. The underpayments were due to salary sacrifice schemes which have since been changed, according to the BBC.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that the government was determined to stamp out the practice of “short-changing your staff.”

B&Q said the underpayments were unintentional and the result of calculations involving geographical allowances, while Five Guys blamed “technical differences in how payroll regulations were applied.”