A former supermarket manager claimed he was unfairly sacked after 25 years when he became too ill to do his job.

Glen Toomey, who was manager of the Newhaven branch of Somerfield Stores, is claiming compensation for disability discrimination and unfair dismissal at a Brighton employment tribunal.

Mr Toomey, of Howlett Drive, Hailsham, who has psoriatic arthritis, said the company failed to consider him for suitable alternative jobs before dismissing him on the grounds of ill health in March 2001.

Mr Toomey, who has been signed off work since he lost his job, told the hearing he would have been prepared to take a drop in his £29,000 salary or move to another part of the country to continue working for the company.

He told the hearing: "I expected to be treated correctly after all the years I had been with the company."

The tribunal heard Mr Toomey had been offered alternative managerial roles but could not work full-time because of his illness. He said the company should have made adjustments to the jobs to take into account his disability.

The company denied treating him unfairly. It claimed there were no vacancies Mr Toomey could have been offered at the time because of his health problems.

The tribunal heard Mr Toomey went off sick in August 199, and returned on a part-time basis in February 2000 because he found the job too physically demanding to work full-time.

In May 2000 he went off sick again. Discussions about his return to work started at the beginning of the following year. But Mr Toomey was dismissed when no alternative suitable position could be found.

His former boss Paul Posner told the hearing: "I did everything I thought was reasonably possible to try to get him back to work.

The tribunal reserved its decision.