The first case connected with the age discrimination regulations has been settled by the reinstatement of sacked workers.

Unison brought the case after 67-year-old Ann Southcott was sacked from Treliske Hospital on September 30 – the day before the regulations came into force.

The clerical worker was told she would receive 11 weeks’ pay rather than the 11 months’ pay she would have been entitled to had she been dismissed the following day.

Mrs Southcott described her sacking, along with other health workers aged over 65, as “grossly unfair”. She added: “The trust publicly announced that it was dismissing employees like me to avoid the implications of the age regulations. I cannot afford to give up work at this time and why should I when I was doing a job I loved?”

She said she was delighted with the result and happy to get her job back.

Unison lodged a case with an employment tribunal while working with the hospital trust, which had an overspend of £32 million, to agree a new policy on age discrimination.