Two night care assistants unfairly sacked after being accused of sleeping on duty have been awarded more than £4,000 compensation.

Tinia Lewis and Kelly Upton, who worked at St Giles, a local authority residential care home in Lancing for adults with physical disabilities, won their case at an employment tribunal last month.

The two women denied being asleep and said they were taking their first break of a busy shift at 5.30am when a senior member of staff accused them of sleeping.

They were accused of pushing three comfortable chairs together to make a bed in the staff room and were dismissed for being in a position likely to induce sleep.

The tribunal ruled the decision to sack the women was too severe but decided they had contributed by 50 per cent to their dismissal and so any compensation would be reduced by half.

Yesterday, West Sussex County Council, which runs the home, was ordered to pay Mrs Upton, 31, of Cokeham Lane, Sompting, £1,856 and Mrs Lewis, 44, of Gravelly Crescent, Lancing, £2,775. Mrs Lewis, who worked at the home for 12 years, told the hearing: "I lost a job I really loved and I would love to go back to it."

The tribunal heard both women had found new part-time jobs in care homes.

The council denied treating the women unfairly. It claimed night care staff were required to stay alert all night and were forbidden from sleeping, or being in a position likely to induce sleep, in case there was an emergency.

The authority said the home's assistant manager discovered the women asleep during a spot-check last September.

She claimed she had to make a coughing sound to wake them.

The council said it was considering appealing against the decision.

It claims the hearing was unfair because one of the tribunal members works as a care homes registrar in West Sussex and should have been disqualified from hearing the case.