THE former company secretary of a Stourport die casting firm which is in liquidation has been awarded a total of more than £7,000 after an employment tribunal decided she had been an employee and not an employer.

Rose Ciric had helped her husband, John, run Worcester Products at Sandy Lane, until they complained cheap products from China and Turkey put the firm out of business last November, the Birmingham tribunal heard.

Five people were made redundant after the firm had slowly been run down through natural wastage.

Mrs Ciric was seeking 10 weeks notice pay and holiday money from the former Department for Trade and Industry - now the Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry.

She was asked by a tribunal panel why she had ticked herself off as a director of the firm on her application form to the tribunal when she was making her claim as an employee.

An employer would not have been entitled to anything, it was pointed out, but Mrs Ciric explained she performed a number of tasks, from looking after the books to working on the shopfloor, shearing metal.

"I was regarded as one of the lads," she said.

Mrs Ciric said the firm started well but eventually suffered from a lack of work. She added the firm could not compete with cheap die casting products made in China and Turkey and the firm became overdrawn at the bank and unable to pay bills.

"The firm became a sinking ship," she said. Mrs Ciric said she helped her husband who was the die casting expert.

Tribunal chairman, David Dimbylow, said the key issue was whether Mrs Ciric was an employee or an employer.

He added that the tribunal decision was that she had been an employee and was, therefore, entitled to a total of £7,059, including £459 holiday pay.

He said the money should be paid by the Department for Trade and Industry.

Mr Ciric, who attended the hearing, said after the judgement: "We had moved the firm from Worcester to Stourport in 2002 at a cost of £30,000 to give the business a boost but we could not compete against China and Turkey."