A STOURPORT mother who was sacked after leaving her hotel receptionist's job for 75 minutes to attend to her sick daughter has been awarded £2,159 for unfair dismissal.

The owners of the Swan Hotel at Stourport, who were criticised at a Birmingham employment tribunal in their absence, were ordered to pay the money to Mrs Debra Bird, of Dorset Road.

Mrs Bird told the tribunal she had worked at the hotel for more than four years and loved her job.

She said that last year she received a call to say her daughter, six, had suddenly become ill. Mrs Bird said she was the only senior staff member at the hotel at the time.

She telephoned a colleague at a Cheltenham hotel owned by the same management and she agreed to provide cover.

"I was away from 1pm to 2.15pm but I was shocked to later receive a letter giving me one week's notice to leave my job because I had left my post," said Mrs Bird.

She said the management alleged that she had attempted to have drinks without payment at the hotel - an allegation she denied. "I asked for an appeal hearing but I did not get any response," she said.

Tribunal chairman, John Taylor, said the hotel management had not turned up for the hearing. The tribunal had tried to contact the management but was refused the mobile number of the person concerned.

Awarding Mrs Bird the cash sum, he said: "There was no evidence to support the hotel's claims, no investigation was carried out into the allegations against her and the reasons given for her dismissal have not been accepted by this tribunal."