Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds an underpaid, underfed workforce, some of whom are forced to sleep on the streets, exploited by a system of labour providers

• Photographs by Valentina Camu/Divergence for the Guardian

A Guardian investigation has found workers in France’s champagne industry are being underpaid and forced to sleep on the streets and steal food to stave off hunger.

Workers from west Africa and eastern Europe in the town of Épernay, home to the headquarters of some of the world’s most expensive champagne brands, including Moët & Chandon and Mercier, claim that they are either not being paid for their work or illegally underpaid by vineyards near the town.