A woman suffering from cancer has agreed to accept a £3,000 payout from the company that sacked her.

Receptionist Kathryn Saunders was dismissed a few weeks after discovering her Hodgkin's disease had returned.

But Geoff Poxon, managing director of Worthing Motors, denied knowing about her illness and said the firm would have treated her differently if he had been told.

The case was due to be heard at an employment tribunal in Brighton but an out-of-court settlement was agreed.

A statement from the firm said: "Worthing Motors dismissed Kathryn Saunders because of her attendance record.

"It is now recognised the difficulties Kathryn faced in attending work were due to a serious and life-threatening disease which, at the time she was employed, was in remission.

"Kathryn was an exemplary employee. She always worked extremely hard, was prepared to work late and worked on days when she was unwell and could have taken off.

"We did not wish to cause Kathryn any injury to feelings and apologise that this has happened."

Miss Saunders, 30, of Shepherd's Mead, Worthing, was in remission when she was hired by Worthing Motors, of Broadwater Road, Worthing, in September 2000.

Miss Saunders experienced various health problems and took 27 sick days. In February, she found out her cancer had returned.

She said she told Mr Woods she had gone into remission and would need chemotherapy but wanted to stay on at work.

She said: "I was gutted by my dismissal. Everything had been getting back to normal. In February, I had been told the cancer had come back and in March was told I was sacked. That was the final nail in my coffin.

"They did not discuss any way of keeping me on."

Miss Saunders, who has been told she might not survive the next five years unless she has a bone marrow transplant, said her job had been one of the only things keeping her going.

She said: "It gave me something to do every day and was the only normal thing I had left. I could forget I was unwell while at work and I enjoyed it."

Mr Poxon said the company would have treated Miss Saunders differently had they realised she was ill.

He said: "She was working here for five months during which time she took 27 days off for coughs, colds and goodness knows what, which is what we dismissed her for.

"But we had no idea she was seriously ill. She never told us. If she had said something we could have helped."

Miss Saunders, who is staying at St Barnabas' Hospice in Worthing after two months in hospital, said she hoped a transplant would put her cancer back into remission so she could look for a new job.