THREE teachers at a Swansea Valley primary school have won their claim for constructive dismissal.

Karen Thomas, Kathleen Davies and Mary Fair took legal action against the governing body of Alltwen school following long-running issues involving head teacher Beth Davies.

A date for the remedy hearing in the case is yet to be set, but compensation for the teachers and legal feels could cost the governors around £200,000.

The lawyer representing the women said they had been through an ordeal and their careers could have been "finished" by what happened.

The case has its origins in 2004, when teachers at the school approached their union with concerns about the way they were being treated by the head teacher.

These concerns were taken to the local education authority (LEA) and, in 2007, the LEA brought a case against Miss Davies, alleging bullying and harassment, nepotism and manipulation of the governing body, the tribunal heard.

The teachers were signed off sick and the case was passed to the governing body of the school to adjudicate on, but they took eight months to deal with it.

The tribunal also heard the teachers' photographs were removed from the school website, and a "petition" was circulated around the school, signed by some members of staff, against the three teachers.

The panel of governors eventually dismissed the case against the headteacher brought by the LEA.

A period of "re-integration" and "re-training" was then attempted for the teachers, but they later resigned claiming constructive dismissal.

Now an employment tribunal has backed the three, ruling they were unfairly dismissed and saying there were "grave concerns" about the way the governors had dealt with the grievances.

Jenni Watson, who represented the teachers in their fight, said: "Clearly, there are questions about the governance and management of the school that need to be answered.

"The ladies have been through an ordeal for the past five or six years, and the verdict of the tribunal is a vindication of their struggles.

"They are relieved that someone has at last listened to them, and understands what happened to them.

"Two of them were on the road to deputy headship when this blew up — their careers have been interrupted at best, and finished at worse."

Two of the teachers involved are currently working as supply teachers.

Nigel Madge, chairman of governors at Alltwen Primary School, speaking on behalf of the governing body, said: "We will be looking at the full detail of the report following the hearing before making any comment."