A railway fitter suffering from an obsessive compulsive disorder which made him repeatedly check his work has claimed he was unfairly sacked.

Alan Laycock, who lives in Brighton, worked on the railways for 25 years before he was dismissed on the grounds of ill health in January last year by Connex South Central.

Mr Laycock, whose condition is now being treated, is claiming compensation at an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.

Connex South Central denies treating him unfairly.

The company says the decision to dismiss him was taken after medical reports appeared to rule out an immediate return to work after he had been signed off sick for five months.

When the Brighton tribunal heard yesterday Mr Laycock was signed fit to work by his GP a month after his dismissal, the rail company immediately offered him a job as a train cleaner, subject to a medical test.

He had been receiving job seeker's allowance since his dismissal.

Mr Laycock was working as a train maintenance fitter at the Brighton engineering depot, a semi-skilled post, when he became ill.

He started suffering from panic attacks a number of years ago and the illness returned in 1999.

He admitted to the company he was scared he might make a mistake on a job which would cause a danger.

He feared that once a train had gone out of the depot something which he had done could cause a derailment and passengers could be injured.

Mr Laycock told the hearing: "I would suffer panic attacks and have an irrational anxiety about whether I had conducted my work in a safe fashion.

"I would constantly have to check my work over and over again to satisfy myself it was safe.

"This was also evident in my personal life. For example, I would have great anxiety when leaving the house, constantly thinking I had left gas taps on or some other problem and believing I had left the house in danger."

He said a month after his dismissal he was well enough to return to work.

He claimed the company should have waited for an up-to-date medical report before sacking him or offered him an alternative position, such as a train cleaner or office duties.

Maurice Parker, health, welfare and pensions manager for the company, who made the decision to dismiss Mr Laycock, said the job was a "safety-critical post" and Mr Laycock had to be medically fit to carry out the work.

Mr Parker said at the time he made his decision to sack Mr Laycock there was no indication from Mr Laycock or the medical reports that he would be returning to work in the near future and the company, which employs 3,000 people, could not hold the job open indefinitely.

He said: "I was faced with a situation where Mr Laycock could not continue working within the depot because of the medical restriction and there was no suitable alternative work for him.

"Even if there were, there was still no signs of when he could return to any type of railway work."

The hearing was adjourned until May 31.