Council bosses have been cleared of claims they drove a sex-swap employee out of his job when he changed his name from Andrea to Andy.

An employment tribunal has dismissed former Brighton and Hove City Council employee Andy Baldwin's claims of unfair dismissal and sex discrimination following a ten-day hearing which sent shockwaves through the city's gay community.

The tribunal ruled that council bosses could not have discriminated against Mr Baldwin because they did not even know he had decided to change his gender.

And the judgement published yesterday states Mr Baldwin's employees did not cause him to resign from his £26,000-a-year job as the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) safety forum due to ill treatment.

Deputy council leader Sue John said: "I am pleased with the judgement, which I think is an accurate reflection of events.

"The council is well aware of its responsibilities to all sections of the city's diverse population.

"Unfortunately, the unfounded claims made at this tribunal were potentially damaging to the council generally and to certain individuals in particular."

Mr Baldwin, 34, had accused senior figures at Brighton and Hove City Council and prominent members of the city's gay community of transphobia - fear of transsexuals.

He said colleagues became suspicious and uneasy when he started living as a man in 2002 and was forced to resign in January 2003 because he felt unsafe working for the council as a transsexual. But the council claimed all along that Mr Baldwin's line-manager, or any of her senior colleagues, did not know or suspect Mr Baldwin was undergoing a sex change.