A trainee photographer claims she was sacked by an elite photo firm when it found out she had been a Page Three girl.

Kristy Green had joined the company after deciding to give up her modelling career.

She studied at college, and was hired by Gillman and Soame, one of Britain's oldest and most respected photographic firms, an employment tribunal in Newcastle heard.

Graduates of Oxford, Durham and Warwick universities have all posed in gown and mortar for the 160-year-old family business.

Miss Green, from South Shields, Tyneside, made her Page Three debut in 1996.

She also posed provocatively, wearing only a bikini and live python, for a Sunday newspaper, and appeared scantily-clad in a glossy calendar.

Miss Green claimed that after only four days employment, Hazel Barr, the firm's portrait operations manager, called her to her office in Oxford and said "we cannot have a topless model in the company".

Miss Green insists she had told Ms Barr at her first interview that she had done topless modelling.

She told the hearing that Ms Barr had either failed to note this, or had later been told to sack her because someone higher in the company did not approve.

Miss Green claims her dismissal, on the grounds of her topless modelling, amounted to sexual discrimination because a man who had posed for similar shots would not be treated in the same way.

Gillman and Soame deny her accusations. The company claims her few days in training were enough to convince them that her employment was a mistake. The tribunal heard she was late for tutorials and a practical demonstration at a local school.

The firm said she did not wear the company uniform and was disruptive during presentations.

Miss Green, it was claimed, was loud and gave the impression that she "knew it all".

The tribunal in Newcastle reserved its judgement.

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