An office worker who claimed she was unfairly sacked from her job with a volunteer bureau has won more than £9,000 compensation.

Wendy Bannatyne took legal action against Peacehaven and Telscombe Help Service and Volunteer Bureau after she believed she was unfairly dismissed in May last year.

Following a three-day hearing in Brighton earlier this year, an employment tribunal ruled the trustees, which run the service, had not acted reasonably.

The formal written report of its reasons has just been published.

During the hearing the tribunal was told how Ms Bannatyne, of Clayfields, Peacehaven, had been working as an office co-ordinator for the bureau for two years when she was sacked after getting a trustee to sign a blank cheque, which was in breach of the rules.

The tribunal decided the dismissal was unfair because the investigation into her conduct was "flawed".

The tribunal's report states a number of the trustees had not been given all the relevant information before making the sacking decision.

It also found no reasonable employer would have automatically dismissed her, as Ms Bannatyne had only made the cheque book available to the trustee, who was aware of the organisation's rules on blank cheques.

However, her compensation was cut by 20 per cent because the tribunal decided she had contributed to her dismissal.

Ms Bannatyne, a former police officer, was awarded £9,500. The total amount included expenses towards the cost of her retraining as a driving instructor as she found it impossible to get another job immediately.

Ms Bannatyne said: "I am delighted. I was put under a lot of stress at the time but it was worthwhile taking my case to the tribunal. I felt there was an ulterior motive for me being sacked."

The chairman of the trustees, Alan Byng, who is also leader of Peacehaven Town Council, said: "The law does not take into account the problems trustees have in exercising their duty to carry out a responsible role within a charitable organisation."