A CANAL worker who was sacked over Facebook comments claiming he was drinking while on standby for flood alert has won his case for unfair dismissal.

David Smith claimed the posts were "banter" and a "joke", but bosses at Scottish Canals dismissed him after taking the view that he had been consuming alcohol.

The 34-year-old, of Lambhill, Glasgow, who believed his online account was private, also posted abusive messages about his supervisors, calling them w*****s and p****s.

However, employment judge Lucy Wiseman ruled that his dismissal was unfair, claiming Scottish Canals failed to consider "the nature of Facebook".

In a written judgment on the case, she said: "It is a social media site used for chat and frequently involves people making claims which are either exaggerated or simply not in fact true."

Judge Wiseman added that manager David Lamont, who decided to dismiss Mr Smith, also gave no consideration to the fact the comments were historic, having been made in 2011.

She said: "Mr Lamont spoke of the claimant being a risk and that his comments 'could have impacted on the response of colleagues tasked with responding to an emergency and created a risk to life or property'.

"Mr Lamont was dealing with an historic situation - the risks he spoke of were risks he knew had not materialised."

Mr Smith, who had worked with Scottish Canals for eight years prior to his dismissal in June 2013, claimed he was being bullied by his supervisors and was about to raise a grievance against them when the Facebook comments were emailed to the human resources department.

He alleged they were brought up to prevent him making his grievance, which also related to health and safety issues, but Judge Wiseman rejected this.

She said that while Mr Smith's complaints "started the chain of events which led to his dismissal", she was "entirely satisfied he was not dismissed because he made a protected disclosure".

The tribunal heard that the comments made by Mr Smith included: "On standby tonight so only going to get half p***ed lol [laugh out loud]."

When asked by another internet user what he was on standby for, he replied "Flood alert", before commenting: "Drinking vodka and apple juice, first time I've tried it, not too shabby."Another post stated: "Why are gaffers such p****s? Is there a book teaching them to be total w*****s? Need a new job."

Mr Smith, who was represented at the tribunal by a family friend, told Judge Wiseman that he believed his Facebook page was set to private and he would never have made the comments if he had known they would be in the public domain.

Asked about the drinking on duty comment, he said: "The comments were made two years ago. They were banter and a joke. I would never drink alcohol while on standby and never have done."

However, Phil Martin, head of Business Improvement at Scottish Canals, who conducted the disciplinary investigation, said he believed Mr Smith had been drinking.

Mr Martin said: "He bragged about being drunk on standby. It was very specific, it wasn't just I've been having a drink, it was this is the particular drink I'm drinking. He was putting the people of this area at risk. We could be sitting here today with somebody dead because of him - that's how serious it was."

A further hearing will now be held to establish whether or not Mr Smith, who worked at Scottish Canals Forth and Clyde west team, can be re-employed by the body.

Any compensation will also be decided at that date.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Canals said: "We welcome the tribunal's findings that we had reasonable grounds to believe Mr Smith was under the influence of alcohol while on standby.

"We are disappointed that the tribunal found our decision to dismiss Mr Smith was too harsh. We are considering an appeal."