Union leaders are investigating allegations of bullying which have been levelled against managers at some of Brighton's best- known tourist attractions.

The GMB says it has received complaints about management at the Royal Pavilion Estate, which is responsible for venues including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Museum and Gallery and Preston Manor.

Union branch secretary Mark Turner said that if the allegations are true, they could amount to "institutionalised bullying".

He said: "Management are already aware of many of the issues that have been raised and we have been looking for regular partnership meetings with the department."

But Brighton and Hove City Council, which has overall responsibility for the estate, says no formal complaint has been made.

A spokeswoman said: "If any personnel issue cannot be resolved between a member of staff and their line manager, the council's grievance procedure is made available to them.

"All members of staff dealing with the general public on a daily basis, including supervisory and management levels, have received appropriate training and are aware of the standards of behaviour required towards other members of staff as well as the general public."

One employee, who did not want to be named, claimed there had been a number of incidents and that "some staff have become too frightened to stick up for themselves".

He said: "People are not enjoying working there. There are about 60 staff on the estate and I would guess as many as 70 per cent are not happy."

The employee claimed incidents included an elderly member of staff popular with visitors being branded lazy and a female worker being shown up in public for a minor mistake.

He said: "Though these things look petty when taken individually they're not when they happen on a daily basis and there is an air that people are worried and frightened for their jobs.

"It seems to be people looking after artefacts are managed by people who still live in the days of Victorian working conditions."

Mr Turner said union workers visited the estate 12 weeks ago to speak to staff and since then had been "inundated" with calls from workers.

He said: "A number of people - more than a handful - have come to us and we are investigating.

"We are awaiting a response from the department in question on how they want to proceed with a number of issues.

"Depending on how they respond we will then decide how we will take things forward."