The only sexual orientation case in the land comes to court

A manager at an international waste disposal company has brought the first claim under sexual orientation legislation which came into force in 2003.

Robert Whitfield, 28, told an employment tribunal he had been forced out of his £54,000-a-year job at Cleanaway UK after repeated taunts from senior staff about being homosexual.

He said that while employed as the company's business transformation manager he had been dubbed 'Sebastian' after the camp character in BBC comedy programme Little Britain.

Christopher Coney, a barrister for Cleanaway UK, said: "There are a lot of people called Sebastian - Seb Coe the athlete, for example. It was a name chosen because you are, if I can put it this way, a bit posh."

The tribunal continues.