A FATHER-of-four sacked from his driving job for not wearing a tie was today awarded £2,000 compensation.

Delivery man Steven Lawes, 31, was told he had to wear a collar and tie while women drivers wore football shirts and tracksuits.

He told an employment tribunal: "At the time I accepted the job as a driver I was told I would have to wear a shirt and tie all the time. I was told I could wear jeans as long as they weren't faded at the knee.

"When I commenced work I noticed that the other store driver wore what she wanted - tracksuits and t-shirts and sometimes an England football shirt.

"When I asked about this I was told I could wear a skirt in the summer if I wanted to. I left it at that."

The tribunal heard how married Mr Lawes was dismissed by Waregrain Coating Ltd in Millbrook, Southampton, last March.

He said that after ten months' employment he was told he was "scruffy" and was sacked without warning from his £160 a week job.

Mr Lawes, of Windermere Road, Mil-brook, said: "I had been on a job in Croydon and when I returned I was asked to clean my van.

"I didn't have my tie that day but I had a jumper over my shirt that concealed the fact. I was boiling the kettle to get some hot water when I was called into the office by Christine Hoskins, one of the bosses.

"She said she was sorry but it was not working out. She said I was scruffy and this was no good for front-line appearance.

"I tried to defend myself but I was sacked on the spot."

Mr Lawes said he was also told that his goatee beard made him look untidy and that he was lazy.

He said: "I was completely demoralised and dejected. I felt like I'd been kicked in the teeth. My family tried to pick me up but it knocked the confidence out of me."

Wife Samantha, 26, said she was forced to take Jobseeker's Allowance because her husband's sacking made him exempt from receiving benefits.

Tribunal chairman Charles Twiss, said the sacking was a "clear case of sex discrimination".

He said: "The applicant was told when he joined that there was a dress code. He was told men must wear a collar and tie when they met the public. There was no such code for women. This was essentially one rule for the male members of staff and another for females."

The tribunal ruled that Mr Lawes had proved charges of sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction of wages.

Respondent Waregrain Coating Ltd did not attend.

Afterwards Mrs Lawes said: "It was never for the money. We just wanted them to apologise and say that they were wrong and they couldn't even come here today and do that."