A British Airways cabin crew member sacked when she refused to work over Christmas has lost her claim for unfair dismissal.

An employment tribunal ruled Serena Thomas, from Goring, was not unfairly treated.

The Brighton tribunal heard Ms Thomas did not want to follow orders because it would have wrecked her Christmas plans.

She had arranged to spend the holiday with her family and fiance Peter Stone, who represented her at the Brighton hearing.

But after she went sick days before Christmas her roster was changed.

When she returned to work she was put on 90-minute standby and later told to fly to Atlanta and Barbados.

She refused because the eight-day trip would have conflicted with her plans.

The company denied treating her unfairly. It employs 13,000 cabin crew and claimed it would result in chaos if staff organised their own rosters.

Her former boss, Peter Clarke, told the hearing: "She was dismissed because she had made a choice between family loyalty and her duties to the company."