A shop assistant who lost his job after sending an angry letter to his boss has lost his claim for unfair dismissal.

Hugh Atkinson told an employment tribunal he was unfairly sacked from his job as a supervisor at Seaside Newsagents in Brighton.

But the company accused him of resigning and he lost his case.

Mr Atkinson, who worked in the Brighton Square branch, wrote the letter in June last year and the following day went off sick.

When his boss read the letter he believed Mr Atkinson had walked out.

Mr Atkinson, who lives in Brighton, told the hearing he had no intention of resigning and had only wanted to complain about the long hours he was working.

He said: "I was sick and tired of working very long hours without having anyone to cover for me. The letter explained my anger at being left in the lurch again."

The tribunal heard that in the letter he said: "I do not want to do it anymore." It went on to say he was moving to Sweden.

But Mr Atkinson denied anyone reading it would believe it was a resignation letter.

He told the tribunal he had written many similar letters to his boss and most were written in jest.

He denied having second thoughts about resigning five days later when he contacted the company to say he had recovered from a stomach bug and intended to return to work.

Anthony Grayson, the company's finance and personnel manager, said: "We had received an abusive letter which made it clear to all of us he had left."

He said Mr Atkinson had a history of dissatisfaction and complaint and the company had changed the shop opening hours to try to keep him happy. It was believed the letter showed he had suddenly decided to quit.

He said: "His requests became more and more demanding. We have never been able to satisfy him for long. He has often demonstrated a tendency to be a complainer.

"It did not matter how many times his demands were met, he always demanded more.

"We believe he had a change of heart after a few days, possibly because he had not found other employment, and he tried to backtrack by claiming he was ill."

The Brighton tribunal unanimously rejected Mr Atkinson's claim for compensation and ruled the company was entitled to treat the letter as a resignation.