RAIL bosses have stuck by their decision to sack an award-winning employee from the New Forest.

South West Trains (SWT) has defended the dismissal of Ian Faletto, who says he was fired for removing a shopping trolley that had been dumped on the line near Lymington Town station.

The company spoke out as campaigners unveiled plans to hand in a 6,000-name petition calling for Mr Faletto to be given his job back.

A South West Trains spokesman said: “This case involved a serious breach of safety and the facts are fundamentally different from the seriously inaccurate picture that has been painted to date.

“We had a constructive conversation with Mr Swayne and made clear we never take any decision to dismiss an employee lightly.

“It is always based on careful consideration of the relevant facts. It would be entirely wrong to be influenced by external parties or other factors.

“The dismissal decision had already been subject to a full and detailed review and our internal consideration of the case is closed. We are prevented from discussing the case in detail due to our duty of employee confidentiality.”