A man who sold drugs after finishing a shift at Gatwick said his sacking was unfair because the deal was made outside company property.

Daniel Davis, 29, from Horsham, was dismissed for gross misconduct after selling cannabis to a fellow employee in his BMW.

An employment tribunal in Brighton heard Davis, who worked at Gatwick for six-and-a-half years, sold "enough for three reefers" to his colleague on the A23, just outside British Airports Authority land, on November 30 last year.

His solicitor Nigel Desoutter said the drugs were never brought into his place of work and therefore the sacking was unjustified.

However, the tribunal decided his employer World Duty Free was right and upheld the dismissal.

The hearing was told hours before he sold the drugs, Davis confessed to his line manager Jacqueline Lawson he had cannabis in his car, some of which he planned to sell to a colleague that night.

His admission was prompted by an announcement that staff vehicles would be searched after a theft of electrical equipment at the duty-free shop.

After his shift finished at 11pm, Davis and a colleague got into the BMW in the car park and drove away.

Davis said the cannabis was in a bag in a rucksack on the back seat of his car. He said the man, who had been "badgering" him to sell the drugs, took some and put it in a matchbox.

He told the man to help himself when they were just outside the BAA premises.

He then dropped the man off on BAA property again.

On December 4, Davis was searched by police as he left the airport. He was arrested and cautioned for possession of cannabis.

He was suspended from his job and, later that month, dismissed.

When asked at the tribunal why he kept the cannabis in his car, Davis said he lived with his parents and did not want to keep it in the house.

He said: "I agree I should not have brought the drugs on to company property but I always considered my car to be my property. I didn't expect the treatment to be so harsh."

Brian Kennelly, for World Duty Free, said: "You were aware the drugs were on company property. You were wearing the company uniform and you were carrying your company ID."

Tribunal chairman Michael Kolanko said the tribunal unanimously upheld the company's decision of dismissal for gross misconduct.