A SWEDISH nurse who claimed a senior doctor bullied and assaulted her was sacked for complaining to her bosses, an employment tribunal heard.

Ingrid Petterson was working as a bank staff nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital when she claims she was unfairly dismissed.

She says she was was subjected to 'ongoing bullying' by consultant urologist Christopher Powell.

Recounting one incident, she told the Liverpool hearing: 'I met Mr Powell in a corridor and he glared at me and mouthed f*** you.'

And on another occasion, Mrs Petterson said the grey haired surgeon had hit her in the theatre corridor and said she would 'burn in hell'.

Mrs Petterson complained about the assault to the hospital's human resources department but because there was no evidence she was told nothing could be done,

The blonde nurse had come to England with her family in 1996 and started working in the hospital's recovery unit in March 1999.

She told the tribunal she initially took the part-time post because she needed the nursing hours to keep her UK licence to practice.

And she said the problems at work coincided with an ongoing feud between Mr Powell and her husband Bo ­ a fellow urologist at the hospital.

She said: 'At the time Mr Powell was raising allegations of clinical incompetence against my husband.'

Mrs Petterson claims her complaints about Mr Powell were repeatedly ignored but she refused to drop them and took them to higher levels.

She said: 'I was summoned to a meeting and told they could not prove anything about my complaint and they had to leave it.'

Her complaints were eventually heard by the hospital's chief executive but were dismissed through lack of evidence.

She was then threatened with disciplinary action and summoned to see hospital bosses because she had made allegations against a senior consultant.

But after telling the hospital she would be consulting solicitors, Mrs Petterson was sacked two days later.

She said: 'I received a letter on July 28, 2000 hand delivered.

'By that letter I was sacked by the trust. It stated that as a bank nurse there was no formal requirement to go through the disciplinary process,'

Mrs Petterson claims the hospital dismissed her either because she was Swedish or because she was married to a consultant.

She also claims the hospital treated her unfairly as a bank nurse in not giving her the same treatment as a full-time employee.

But the trust claims Mrs Petterson made the allegations against Mr Powell because of the ongoing rivalry between him and her husband.

Mr Powell denied the assault against Mrs Petterson and the other allegations but he admitted there was tension between him and Bo Petterson.

He said: 'There were problems in the urology department. But I would not treat Mrs Petterson in any way which could lead to a complaint.

'I cannot unequivocally say I was not in the hospital corridor. All I can say is I did not assault her.'

Mrs Petterson's solicitor, Ed Morgan, told the tribunal the nurse's complaints had not been acted upon because of her marriage. He said: 'A negative view of the applicant's complaints was taken.'

Mr Morgan told how the hospital had heard other allegations about Mr Powell from nurses in the department but despite no formal complaint being made had investigated them ahead of Mrs Petterson's complaint.

The tribunal reserved its decision.