THE managing director of a national chain of supermarkets today apologised after a pregnant store assistant was sacked for giving away carrier bags.

Thomas Jellum, managing director of Netto Foodstores' UK operations, said the timing of Kim Fielding's dismissal from the Darwen store was "unfortunate".

Kim, who is six months pregnant, lost her case for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal on Tuesday after she failed to scan more than 200 carrier bags, worth around £11, over a four-day period last June. The shop assistant, who worked part-time on the tills during busy periods, was sacked in August.

A tribunal in Manchester said the decision was "fair" but chair of the tribunal David Leahy urged managers in similar situations to be more understanding in the future.

Mr Jellum said: "It is unfortunate that Kim was pregnant and we are sorry for her and the situation she was in.

"We were afraid for a while that we would lose the case but when it came to it, the decision was clear cut. She deliberately gave the carrier bags away, which was gross misconduct and that was the main issue."

Darwen councillors today backed the tribunal panel and urged Netto bosses to be more sympathetic towards staff.

Coun Karimeh Foster, Whitehall ward, said Netto should recruit more staff to ease the pressure during busy periods.

She said: "Netto is chock-a-block at the weekends and she was pregnant and obviously very stressed.

"It must be very easy to forget about things in those circumstances. I hope Netto will take this as an example and look to have more staff in the Darwen store at busy periods."

Coun Dave Hollings, Sunnyhurst ward, said: "Obviously the tribunal found in favour of Netto but things that are legally right sometimes aren't morally right."

Kim, of Queen Street, said she was grateful for the support the town had given her.

She said: "A lot of people have walked up to me in the street to tell me they're behind me. I never did it on purpose and I stick by that."