Agency workers must be treated with the same respect as permanent staff, Oxfordshire MP Andrew Smith has said.

Mr Smith, Labour MP for Oxford East, is sponsoring a backbench Bill in Parliament to give extra rights to about 1.4 million agency workers across the country.

He said the move was needed to stop temps being exploited, which also led to the wages and rights of full-time staff being undermined.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has so far resisted attempts to introduce European-wide laws - backing instead the pleas from businesses for a qualification period of six months.

But Labour MPs have been feeding Mr Brown reports of an "underclass of workers" hired on lower hourly rates than directly-employed staff, triggering job insecurity for both.

Agency staff also miss out on overtime, sickness and maternity benefits, in what the Government often hails as Britain's "flexible labour market".

Mr Smith said: "Many temporary and agency workers get a raw deal on terms and conditions, and some are vulnerable to exploitation."

The Confederation of British Industry has claimed boosting temp workers rights will cost 250,000 jobs.