Secret lovers to face sack

A fling with the boss, a tryst with your secretary, a brief romance with a col league after the Christmas party. These days, most people may see these as just routine perils of working life. But staff at Britain's biggest travel company have been warned they could face the sack if they fail to come clean about office affairs.

New guidelines from Thomson mean that workers have to tell someone about affairs or risk disciplinary action - even if one party is married.

The company, which owns the tour operator of the same name, High Street travel agent Lunn Poly and airline Britannia, wants to stop any suspicion that employees might get special treatment at work for sleeping with the boss. In the travel business, staff often fly together to foreign resorts.

Thomson's human resources manager Philipa Deller told Travel Weekly: "We have no wish to invade privacy but we have to look after the interests of the company.

"If there's a possibility an individual could benefit from a relationship we will look to relocate one of them within the department so there is little or no direct contact."