A POSTMAN of 20 years was sacked after clocking up more than 220 sick days.

Steven Hughes lost his job at Royal Mail's Crewe delivery office on the grounds of unsatisfactory attendance, in September last year.

The 46-year-old, from Crewe, had suffered a "run of bad luck" in the months leading up to his dismissal.

But he lost a claim for unfair dismissal during an employment tribunal held in Hanley yesterday.

It heard that Royal Mail has a standard of attendance all staff are expected to achieve.

A warning can be given to a worker who has four or more sickness absences, or 14 days off sick, within any 12-month period.

Second warnings can be issued if the employee has a further two absences, or a single absence of 10 days or more, in the 12 months following a stage one warning.

Employees reach the third and final stage if they have a further two absences, or a single absence of 10 days or more off sick, in the following six-month period.

Mr Hughes was given all three warnings in an eight-month period.

He reached stage one in January last year after taking a total of 23 days off for complaints including a chest infection and headaches. Two months later he had 15 days off after falling down steps and hurting his ribs.

His dismissal came after he took 72 days off, because of a fractured elbow he suffered playing football.

A medical report showed his absences were not because of any long-standing illness, and it said his attendance at work was likely to improve.

The tribunal heard Mr Hughes had previously been given warnings on 10 occasions prior to January last year.

Mr Hughes, who is now unemployed, said he thought being sacked was "a bit harsh" as his absences, particularly the last, weren't his fault.

Mr Hughes, of Timbrell Avenue, added: "I was a loyal employee.

"I had been given a long service award for 20 years just before I got the sack, and I returned to work early because they asked me to help out."

Mr Hughes's attendance records were only available from 1999 onwards.

From then until he was sacked, he had taken 223 days of sick, and almost 30 more as special leave and for industrial action.

Production control manager Michael Harvey, who made the decision to sack Mr Hughes, described his record as "one of the worst I have ever seen".

Appeals manager David Houle said: "The phrase 'if it's not one thing, it's another' comes to mind."

Tribunal judge Donald Thompson said: "'A bit harsh' isn't part of our lexicon, in the sense that we have got to deal with fairness and unfairness."