A steward sacked from one of Britain's most exclusive golf clubs for wearing a red jumper is now facing a court battle to save his home.

Trevor Proctor, his wife and two daughters, have refused to leave the four-bedroom tied cottage on the Earl of March's Goodwood estate until a tribunal has ruled on the legitimacy of his dismissal.

But the estate has lodged an application for an eviction order which will be heard at Chichester Magistrates Court in September.

Mr Proctor had worked at Goodwood Golf Club for seven years when he was spotted in the rogue sweater by a player in January. The secretary of the £800-a-year club wrote to his employers, caterers Morton's Fork, to complain. He was suspended in February.

After an internal inquiry ruled the complaint was "ridiculous" he was allowed to return to his £18,000-a-year post the next month.

But the club refused to accept the decision and banned Mr Proctor from setting foot in the clubhouse, which is next to his home.

The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) supports his case and is planning to take it to an industrial tribunal but no date for the hearing has been set.

Mr Proctor, whose 16-year-old daughter, Austine, works part-time at the clubhouse, said: "I'm still in limbo.

"I don't know what Goodwood's argument will be but I don't I believe I should leave until the case is settled."

No one from Goodwood House was available for comment.

Friday August 29, 2003