Barmaid Hilary Hammans was celebrating victory today after a tribunal ruled that she had been unfairly sacked - by her husband.

Mrs Hammans lost her job at the Fox Inn, at Steventon, near Abingdon, pictured below, when she told her husband Larry, the landlord, that she wanted a divorce.

But she turned the tables by taking him to an employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal.

After the tribunal had ruled in her favour, the couple, who are now in the process of divorcing, returned to the Fox, where they both still live.

The tribunal at Reading decided that Mr Hammans, 59, had acted unfairly in sacking her but awarded her no compensation because she was now better off financially than when she worked at the pub.

Mrs Hammans, 42, her husband's fourth wife, told the hearing that her husband, who paid her £100 a week, sacked her after they separated last summer.

She said: "There was no breakdown in our working relationship as employer and employee. I feel shaken and humiliated by this dismissal.

"My life has been turned upside down. It has been very upsetting and stressful.

"I don't feel it should have happened. We worked very well as a team, even after we decided to split."

Mr Hammans said that trade fell at the pub because of the unpleasant atmosphere between him and his wife.

He said: "We weren't even talking. Our situation behind the bar was a joke among the customers.

"I still want my wife back, we still live in the house and have had breakfast together for the last eight months.

"But you can only work together in a pub as man and wife. There has got to be that magnetism and respect for each other.

"What other man would treat his wife like I do, letting her live at my house when we are getting divorced. Everyone thinks I'm an idiot for caring."

The tribunal heard that Mrs Hammans now had a new £13,500 a year job as a barmaid and waitress at Frilford Heath Golf Club, near Abingdon.

Tribunal chairman John Hollow said: "The redundancy situation came about because their personal relationship had deteriorated beyond repair. It seems obvious to us that the working relationship of a husband and wife together in a pub cannot be separated from their personal relationship.

"We are far from satisfied that Mrs Hammans has suffered any financial loss."

After the hearing, Mrs Hammans, who dropped a claim for sex discrimination, said: "I got what I came for. I knew it was going to be difficult."

As he left, Mr Hammans told his estranged wife: "I'll see you at home."