THE case of sacked Hampshire railman Ian Faletto has been raised in the House of Commons.

An 8,400-name petition calling for the award-winning employee to be given his job back has been presented to Parliament by New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne.

He told the Daily Echo that the move could now pave the way for a full debate into the matter.

Mr Faletto claims that he was sacked by South West Trains (SWT) for removing a supermarket trolley that had been dumped on the line at Lymington railway station, where he was ticket office clerk.

The Rev Alex Russell, vicar of St Mark’s Church in nearby Pennington, raised a petition urging SWT to reinstate him.

Mr Swayne told the Commons that the vicar and some of her fellow campaigners had tried to deliver the signatures to SWT.

“However, in an act of shocking discourtesy to the travelling public, the company refused to take them,” he said.

SWT blamed the group, claiming they had previously agreed that only one person would enter the company’s headquarters to present the petition.

SWT says that Mr Faletto was sacked for what it described as a serious breach of health and safety. Mr Faletto, of Durley Crescent, Totton, is claiming unfair dismissal and is taking the company to an employment tribunal.