THE headteacher of a failing unit for troubled youngsters was unfairly dismissed after he was given only three days to turn around its performance, a tribunal has ruled.

Middlesbrough Council was criticised by the panel for handling the case in a substantially unfair manner.

Anthony Scoffin was in charge of the council-run Ashdale Pupil Referral Unit when he was sacked in February.

The tribunal at Newcastle heard that the council said Mr Scoffin, who had run Ashdale for two years, was incapable of improving the unit's performance and that giving him further time would have been futile.

Mr Scoffin was unknowingly being criticised for failing to address problems with staff monitoring and the school's improvement plan by the council's head of complementary education, Eileen Hinds.

But the tribunal decided that Ms Hinds had not raised any issues with Mr Scoffin, who was unaware his performance was being assessed.

The unit, in Marton Road, caters for 14 to 16-year-olds who have special educational needs or have been excluded from mainstream education.

The tribunal decided Mr Scoffin was not given an adequate opportunity to defend the accusations when he appeared before a disciplinary hearing in December. The report's conclusion stated: "There had been no objective appraisal of the claimant's performance, taking into account the lack of resources, the very limited number of qualified staff and the obvious difficulties in running a unit which had pupils aged 14 to 16 years with challenging behaviour.

"The claimant had not been made aware of the extent of Ms Hinds' concerns until he was given the letter of December 5 and he was given just over three days in which to remedy these matters -a time period which was completely unrealistic.

"The claimant is a highly qualified and a very experienced teacher whom the tribunal felt could and would be able to address and resolve any performance issues if he had been given a proper opportunity to do so.

"Furthermore, the tribunal found that with regard to any issues of performance which did exist, these were such that no reasonable employer would have dismissed an employee for, the dismissal falling outside of the band of reasonable responses."

A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: "We are currently studying the report and feel it would be inappropriate to comment at this time."