Cafe sacking ruled unfair

A former Hereford café manageress has been granted compensation for unfair dismissal by an industrial tribunal in Cardiff.

Ruth Ann Austin - who had worked at the Regency Café in St Peter's Square for two years - was awarded £205, equivalent to two weeks' net pay.

The tribunal heard her position had dwindled after the café's proprietor, Roland Rosser, closed his other business in Leominster and was spending more time with his wife working at the Hereford premises.

While it felt Mr Rosser had legitimate reasons for making Mrs Austin redundant as he had less need of full-time staff, it judged that he had failed to give her any prior warning.