Sales assistants at Sea Life have been fired without notice.

According to an anonymous source, three sales assistants at Sea Life Brighton were sacked without notice.

The staff are employed by an external third-party contractor called Events Photos Team (EPT).

Reportedly, in a meeting on Sunday, October 30, two sales assistants were told they were going to be let go due to ‘staff costs’ and that their final shift would be the following Thursday.

However, the source said that they were immediately removed from the rota and their shifts up to Thursday had been cancelled.

According to the source, staff are entitled to one week’s notice, but another sales assistant was called and told she had worked her last shift for EPT.

A spokeswoman for Sea Life Brighton said: “We have been made aware of a meeting which has taken place within one of our external third party contractor teams on October 30. We are directly speaking with the contractor to understand the situation. As this is not with our own employees we cannot comment further.”

The source said staff who had been fired were worried about paying bills and rent. Those who had upcoming shifts on the rota have not received pay for the shifts they were scheduled to work, they said.

“It's an absolutely shocking display of disrespect towards workers from this company,” said the source.

EPT, the contractor which employs the sales assistants at Sea Life Brighton said it was a private matter between EPT and staff involved and said "our priority remains ensuring staff safety and wellbeing. We are unable to comment on individual situations due to confidentiality”.

The spokeswoman for Sea Life added: “All our suppliers have to go through due diligence and we work closely with all our suppliers to ensure they follow and deliver the same high staff and customer standards we deliver at our attractions and with our own staff.

“We will be following up with this particular supplier to understand what happened.

“The safety and wellbeing of our staff, contractors and guests is of paramount importance to us and we are committed to providing a working environment in which everyone feels valued, respected, and able to contribute to the business.”