VETERAN television broadcaster Laurie Mayer is to appeal against a tribunal’s decision to throw out his claim that he was sacked unfairly by the BBC.

Nearly two years ago, Mr Mayer stormed out of the BBC studios in Tunbridge Wells just minutes before he was going on air to present the flagship news programme South East Today.

He said he had just been blamed for poor ratings by Laura Ellis, the BBC’s regional chief.

Last year, he told Ashford Employment Tribunal that he had been fired because of his reputation as a “whistleblower".

He repeatedly complained of an alleged climate of fear in the newsroom and claimed that junior staff were reduced to tears by “bullying” editors.

But the tribunal rejected Mr Mayer’s claim while supporting some of his complaints. It criticised Mrs Ellis and her national boss Andy Griffee, controller of English regions.

Mr Mayer, who was backed by the National Union of Journalists, claimed that he had won the argument but lost the case.

He has now been been given leave to appeal against the ruling. “We are basically saying that my final meeting with Laura was when the BBC breached their contract with me," he said. "We have been told that we have an arguable case.”

“I’m very pleased,” Mr Mayer said. “We had to focus it narrowly to a point of law and we have said that taking into account the facts they established, it was not reasonable to reach the conclusion they did.”

The appeal judge will have four options - to dismiss Mr Mayer’s case, overturn the ruling, send it back to Ashford tribunal centre for re-examination, or refer the case to another venue for examination.

The NUJ has agreed to back Mr Mayer and the hearing will be held in the next six months.

A BBC spokesman said: “We note the decision of the appeals tribunal.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Ellis is to leave her job at the end of March to become chief assistant to Mr Griffee in Birmingham. Leo Devine has taken over as head of regional and local programmes in the south east.