A pregnant train station worker was forced to resign after sexist male bosses said she was not up to the job due to her condition, an employment tribunal heard.

Hannah Quinn, of Trafalgar Road, Portslade, was delighted when she was offered the job of acting duty manager at Brighton station on a three-month trial.

But things started to go wrong when she fell ill during this time and discovered she was carrying her first child.

Mrs Quinn was given a risk assessment and told she could not carry out her new duties properly while pregnant, the tribunal heard.

She disagreed but bosses told her she would have to go back to her former job as personal assistant to the station manager at a reduced rate of pay until she left for maternity leave.

Mrs Quinn claims she was victimised and is taking action against Southern Railways, formerly South Central trains, claiming sexual discrimination, constructive dismissal and unlawful reduction in pay.

She said bosses took the decision to demote her without consulting her and went back on a verbal agreement that the promotion would be made permanent if her work was satisfactory.

Mrs Quinn said: "I got positive feedback. There was no suggestion my work was not up to scratch."

She spoke of the meeting at which she was told she could not carry on in the post, adding: "I was left sitting and sobbing in a chair and felt totally humiliated and degraded."

The risk assessment concluded Mrs Quinn was at risk due to the possibility of trips and falls, verbal abuse from customers, over-exertion and possible contact with harmful materials such as needles and toxic fluids.

But she said the duty manager's job was no more perilous than the personal assistant's role, in which she was forced to inhale passive smoke because one boss insisted on lighting up in the office.

Mrs Quinn said a superior, Les Hayden, breached her confidence by telling colleagues she was pregnant despite her request to keep the matter private.

At an earlier hearing Southern Railways agreed to pay her the duty manager's rate of £19,500-a-year and said they would keep the job open until she returned from maternity leave.

But Mrs Quinn said she lost all confidence in her employer and resigned after a period off work with stress.

The hearing continues.