CRISIS-HIT Thames Water has been accused of sacking a long-standing worker for raising health and safety concerns, GMB union said today.

The worker, who has more than 25 years service with the bankrupt private monopoly, challenged safety issues at Mogden Sewerage Treatment Works — recently featured in the BBC documentary Thames Water: Inside the Crisis — only to be sacked for complaints made against them many months earlier.

Those earlier complaints were not raised with the GMB, which argues that the external investigator brought in by the company to deal with them progressed the complaints without conducting a full and proper investigation, prompting concerns other motivations could have been at play. 

GMB regional organiser Mick Lancaster said: “The timing of this case is deeply suspicious.

“It leads us to believe that our representative has been targeted due to their trade union activities and raising concerns about unsafe practices at Thames Water.

“As a union representative, they have a duty to speak out and they should not be punished for doing so.

“We are calling on Thames Water to reinstate this long serving and upstanding employee.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We do not comment on employee-related matters.”