A former technical manager of an arts centre who swore and drunk on the job has won his case for unfair dismissal.

Bosses at The Old Market arts centre in Upper Market Street, Hove, were guilty of plotting a "fait accompli" in their bid to force David Squires, 22, out of his £17,000-a-year job.

Mr Squires, who lived next to the centre but now lives in Southwick, was in charge of lighting and sound engineering but had no formal qualifications.

He admitted swearing and drinking at the venue during his two-and-a-half years of full-time employment. But Mr Squires' lawyers successfully argued the trustees used this as an excuse to sack him.

He was awarded £3,000 compensation at an employment tribunal in Brighton yesterday.

It was, Mr Squires' legal team said, the 22-year-old's refusal to accept a £12,000 cut to his wages and undertake training that was the real reason behind his sacking in October 2005.

Solicitor David Mitchell: "This amounted to a unilateral change in his contract, which was unacceptable."

After rejecting the proposal, Mr Squires was then given the option to resign or be sacked in October 2005.

The tribunal agreed Mr Squires was right to refuse the drop in his wages and criticised the trustees for failing to have proper grievance procedures in place.

They said: "The tribunal is satisfied that had a proper process been in place, Mr Squires would still be in a job. The procedures that were in place were so flawed it is entirely correct to say this was unfair dismissal."

Mr Squires, who joined The Old Market on a self-employed basis in 2002 and became its full-time technical manager in December 2003, admitted swearing at staff including artistic director Caroline Brown on a number of occasions.

Miss Brown said: "He became bored and despondent and rather sloppy in his general behaviour.

"There have been far too many times when I've felt he's not behaved properly to the public, the staff or me and every time I've asked him to do something about it, it was not usually met.

"We suggested he had more training but he continued to be evasive. We tried to help him and we cared for him."

Mr Squires also admitted drinking at the venue, claiming it was "part of the job" and The Old Market's "relaxed atmosphere" and was tolerated by all the staff.

After his refusal of the wage cut in July 2005, the series of allegations about Mr Squires' behaviour grew stronger - a fact he said was a clear indication he was being forced out.

Mr Mitchell said: "It seems quite clear that from July 2005, the claimant would no longer have his job and he would be replaced by two new technicians.

"It was clearly envisioned that the claimant would no longer continue in his role.

"Then there began a series of complaints, which became more frequent. This was a premeditated decision to disguise the real attempt.

"If you have somebody who swears and drinks on the job and is lazy, I would suggest the last thing you want to do is offer them more training."

A P45 was sent through the post to Mr Squires which had been signed off on September 30 - five days before his employment was officially ended - giving further evidence, he argued, to the claim the matter had already been settled.

After the hearing, Mr Squires, who has since worked at The Brighton Centre on a casual basis, said he was pleased and it was a "fair result".