AN art gallery sales assistant was so obsessed with her job that she would become upset if a painting was sold without her knowledge, an industrial tribunal heard yesterday.

Angela Davis, 42, also came into work on her day off, frequently turned up unannounced at her boss's house and demanded more involvement in the running of the gallery.

Miss Davis was a fan of North Yorkshire artist Mackenzie Thorpe's work before she worked at his Richmond gallery, Arthaus.

At the tribunal in Newcastle, she claimed Mr Thorpe and his wife, Susan, resented paying her commission on the artwork that she sold.

She also said she was shouted at, bullied and driven to the point of suicide by the artist during her employment, which began in early 1997.

But the Thorpes refuted her unfair dismissal claim, saying her obsession with the job and the artist's work came to dominate their lives.

Mrs Thorpe, a former nurse, told the hearing: "When she wasn't working she would come to the gallery a lot. If a painting was gone from the wall she would say, 'Oh, I would like to have sold that'.

"She was also hurt on many occasions when customers were disappointed that she was not Mackenzie's wife."

"She and her partner, John, did not really allow us to have a private life."

Mrs Thorpe also said Miss Davis's sales pitch would lead to her embellishing the story behind a painting.

Miss Davis was sacked in April last year after being off for 33 weeks with depression.

The hearing continues.