A car worker who lost her job after telling her boss she might suffer a miscarriage has won £6,000 compensation at an employment tribunal.

Angela French was told by a doctor to take a few days off from her job as an agency worker at the Crawley branch of Allied Healthcare (UK) because of the scare in the early stages of her pregnancy last March.

But she claimed she was told unless she worked the next morning at 7am she would not be given any work for weeks.

Ms French, who did not get paid if she did not work, told the Brighton hearing she was shocked and disgusted at the way she was treated.

Ms French, of St Francis Walk, Bewbush, Crawley, won her claim for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination.

Ms French, who gave birth to a son a month ago, said: "It was really unfair. I had a threatened miscarriage and not a snotty nose or a cough. It was quite serious.

"I was told unless I came to work the following day I would not get any work for three or four weeks, which I considered blackmail.

"I refused to do the 7am job the following morning because I was putting my baby at risk."

Ms French told the hearing she was angry and upset when she received the warning during a telephone conversation and admitted swearing and putting the phone down.

A week later she received a letter from the agency informing her no work would be offered to her "at the current time". She believed the letter meant she was sacked.

She said: "I have little doubt my dismissal was directly connected with my pregnancy."

Her former boss Monica Malone, branch manager of the agency, denied Ms French was dismissed or treated unfairly. She said it was Ms French's decision to leave.

Ms Malone told the hearing she was concerned for Ms French's health. The message she received was Ms French was having a miscarriage and if that had been the case she believed Ms French should have sufficient time off to recover.

She said Ms French could have returned when she had a doctor's letter stating she was fit to work She said the agency had been waiting for Ms French to inform the office when she was well enough to return. However, when she did make contact she requested her P45.

She said: "I did not dismiss her."

After the hearing, Ms French, now a customer services assistant at Gatwick Airport, declined to comment.