Hundreds of workers are set to receive thousands of pounds in compensation after the House of Lords ruled that they were denied employment rights. More than 100 civil servants from Wales launched the legal action after complaining that they lost employmen

Hundreds of workers are set to receive thousands of pounds in compensation after the House of Lords ruled that they were denied employment rights.

More than 100 civil servants from Wales launched the legal action after complaining that they lost employment protection rights when they were transferred to the Training and Enterprise Councils in the early 1990s.

They said their terms and conditions, pensions and redundancy arrangements suffered because the then Tory government failed to follow a European directive.

Peter Harris, national officer of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which backed the workers, said: "It is very satisfying that the Lords has confirmed that workers who are transferred from one employer to another should be fully protected and should not see a deterioration in their terms and conditions."

The union's general secretary Mark Serwotka added: "This landmark ruling highlights the value of being a member of a union and over the coming weeks we will be working to ensure a fair and just compensation settlement.