NEWSAGENT Peter Clare, who successfully took his former employer to an industrial tribunal for unfair dismissal, has told how the ordeal has made him an outcast in his village.

The tribunal held in Bristol last month found that Mr Clare, 59, of Valley Way, Colerne, had been unfairly dismissed in April as manager of Dailies Newsagent in the village.

Store owner Donald Cameron Thompson, a long-standing friend of Mr Clare and his wife Rita, 58, was ordered to pay damages for breach of contract and compensation, totalling £4,000.

But although Mr Clare said he feels vindicated by the result, he and his wife say they have been ignored in the street by villagers and still feel baffled as to why a good friend has treated them in this way. Mr Clare said he agreed to manage the shop after Mr Cameron Thompson bought it five years ago.

He said: "In April, my wife and I went on holiday to Egypt and the day I got back, I phoned Donald, who had been keeping an eye on our house, as we often did for each other.

"I was astounded when he told me that I wasn't to come back in and that I was sacked.

"After literally picking myself up off of the floor, I asked him why, but he said that was it and that I could not change his mind."

Mr Clare said he and his wife, who is a midwife, then had to rely their savings to live.

He added: "Meanwhile, our involvement with the community also suffered. People shunned us and I felt I had no choice but to give up my role on the village committee, which was chaired by Donald. We were completely humiliated."

Humiliation turned to anger and Mr Clare, who acknowledges business at the newsagents had not been as good as it could have been, consulted a solicitor, who agreed he had grounds to claim unfair dismissal.

Mr Clare said: "We were pleased with the tribunal outcome but it cannot give us back what we have lost, financially and personally."

Asked for his comments on the tribunal, Mr Cameron Thompson said he felt that it had been conducted professionally and that he had been satisfied with the result.

He declined to comment further.