THREE women who claimed their boss treated male employees better than female ones have won £26,000 compensation for sex discrimination.

Elizabeth Marsden, Jayne Lancashire and Kim Cox were all area sales managers working around the country for Gro-Well Feeds Ltd, which is based on the Bowerhill Trading Estate, Melksham.

They took the horse feed manufacturer to an employment tribunal after they were made redundant, claiming a male colleague got better perks.

The tribunal in Bristol heard how one of their male colleagues was not made redundant even though his sales performance was not better than theirs.

He was not asked to submit call reports, as they were, and was given a fuel card and a more expensive company car.

The three women were dismissed, allegedly for poor performance, then reinstated and then finally made redundant.

Julie Mellor, chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, which supported the case, said: "Any suggestion that some employees have to meet higher targets than others or do not receive the same perks as colleagues doing the same job leaves the employer vulnerable to claims of discrimination."

Gro-Well Feeds Ltd declined to comment on the result.