A bin man marched from the depot after being accused of turning up to work drunk tried to claim compensation for his hurt feelings.

Richard Warren's sudden suspension led to a two-day wildcat strike among colleagues, which brought Brighton and Hove's refuse service to a standstill.

Mr Warren, 57, of St Aubyns, Hove, told an employment tribunal that Brighton and Hove City Council had victimised him because of his role as a GMB union representative.

The shop steward said he felt harassed and bullied and was forced to stop work because he suffered stress, anxiety and agrophobia after the suspension in February. He has yet to return to work.

The city council denied penalising him for his trade union activities and maintained he was treated in the same way as other staff.

During the hearing the tribunal heard how bin men staged a strike after Mr Warren was marched out of the Hollingdean refuse service.

The council, which oversees the Cityclean refuse service, suspended him after he was accused of swearing at a manager and being 'drunk at work'.

His suspension led to an unofficial strike by about 300 refuse collectors.

At a disciplinary hearing held in March, the allegation of being drunk was dropped because there was no proof apart from three managers smelling alcohol on his breath.

He admitted swearing but told the tribunal using swear words was normal practice and he had sworn in context and not been aggressive.

But an investigation led to Mr Warren facing further complaints at the disciplinary hearing.

He was accused of inciting an unauthorised action among the workforce in January when a crew left the depot 45 minutes late after a meeting.

He was further accused of taking unauthorised time off work when it was alleged he drove Mark Turner, a GMB union official, to a meeting and on the way dropped Mr Turner's two children at school. Mr Warren denied he had taken the children to school in work time.

At the disciplinary meeting he was given a final written warning.

Mr Warren said he was treated more severely than other staff who were not trade union activists.

He said: "It makes me think they have loaded the allegations against me because of my union activities."

He accused the city council of leaking his name to The Argus at the time of the strike, an allegation denied by the local authority, and he added: "I feel my name and reputation have been damaged."

The tribunal rejected Mr Warren's claim on the grounds he had not proved he was a victim of discrimination.

Gillian Marston, assistant director of Cityclean, told the hearing Mr Warren had not been treated any differently during the disciplinary process than other staff.