A shop worker has been awarded more than £12,000 by an employment tribunal after being sacked because she was pregnant.

Gillian Anderson missed a shift at the Spar store in Duntocher due to pelvic and stomach pain and was dismissed because the owners feared she would need more time off as her pregnancy progressed.

The 28-year-old, from Clydebank, was also told by bosses that she would be better off not working at all while she was pregnant.

But the mother, who already had a little boy, Robbie, 5, and went to give birth to a baby girl, Hannah, suspected she was going to lose her job so began recording what her boss was saying to her.

She took her case to an employment tribunal where she went on to win her claim for pregnancy discrimination.

Miss Anderson, who represented herself at the tribunal in Glasgow, said she hopes her case sends a message to employers that they cannot treat workers in this way.

She said: "I was worried about my situation after being dismissed on the grounds of my pregnancy, however with a lot of help from Citizens Advice Bureau and my own determination to seek justice, I managed to do what was right.

"I hope my success in the case will be a lesson to employers and employees across the country that employment law is there to protect all parties involved.

"I am very pleased with the outcome of my case, and it goes to show that the justice system is working."

The tribunal heard that Miss Anderson first called in sick in May 2016 because she was feeling ill. She attended work the next day but was sent home because she looked so ill and soon after realised she was pregnant.

On another occasion in June, she tripped while taking some rubbish out from the store, which is owned by Arshad and Amjid Sadiq, and had to go to hospital where her foot was put in a walking boot.

Again she offered to come in for the rest of her shifts that week but was told not to come in.

In July she then began to suffer pelvic displacement because of her pregnancy and one one occasion had to miss a shift to attend the maternity unit because of the pain.

It was then that Mr Arshad Sadiq asked to meet with her.

The judgment states: "Miss Anderson anticipated when she went into the meeting, that her job might be at risk, and she made a covert tape recording on her telephone.

"At the outset of the conversation, Mr Sadiq told Miss Anderson that it was an inconvenience for him, and he was going to let the claimant go because it was probably the best for her and for the shop too.

"He suggested to her that she did not look for another job until she had her baby.

"Mr Sadiq went on to say that it was the best for Miss Anderson as well as for him.

"He said one she had the baby she could by all means come back to see him."

Employment judge Laura Doherty added that after Miss Anderson was dismissed, she was "stressed and worried about her position, in that she was no longer in employment, and she had no income and she already had a young son and another child on the way".

The worker received a letter confirming her dismissal on August 3, which stated she had shown herself to be "unreliable on several occasions", however the tribunal refuted this claim.

Judge Doherty added that the tribunal found Miss Anderson had been sacked "because of her pregnancy or pregnancy related illness".

She was awarded £11,989.20 for pregnancy discrimination, and a further £202.30 for unpaid annual leave.