A former hotel boss has been ordered to pay more than £16,000 in compensation to three Polish workers after an employment tribunal ruled they had been unfairly dismissed and had suffered racial discrimination.

Evidence was given to the tribunal that Clive Jeffries of the Clachan of Glendaruel hotel on the Cowal Peninsula had made the women, all in their early 20s, work up to 75 hours a week without overtime.

Jeffries had also described them in front of customers as "Polish slaves" and "Polish bitches".

After the case one of the women said: "Like lots of Polish people, we came here to make a new life. But we were treated like slaves. Nobody expects to be treated that badly."

A spokesman for Citizens' Advice Scotland said the exploitation of East European workers in the service industries was a worrying phenomenon.

He added: "Some workers are being sacked with a day's notice. There's no doubt we are seeing more migrant workers complaining about their treatment in the workplace."

The Clachan of Glendaruel hotel is now under new management.

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By Andrew Smith

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