£8,500 but no job for sacked Tube driver

A Tube driver sacked for playing squash while off work with an ankle injury was today offered £8,500 compensation by London Underground.

But the company refused to reinstate Chris Barrett, 30.

His sacking led to a 24-hour Tube strike causing disruption for hundreds of thousands of passengers. His union, the RMT, today said the compensation is not enough and demanded he get his £32,000-a-year job back.

Mr Barrett won his claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal in May. However, the tribunal found that although LU had failed to establish that he had been dishonest, he was "not frank" about his exercise and he had made a 75 per cent contribution to his sacking. LU today dropped its appeal against the tribunal verdict.

Bobby Law, London district secretary of the RMT and a former Tube driver, said: "We will continue our campaign for Mr Barrett to be reinstated.

"Justice now demands that he be reinstated as a driver. We have campaigned for him and this union has been proved right by LU dropping its appeal."