A FEMALE prison warden was treated like a piece of meat by leering senior officers, a tribunal heard yesterday.

Married mother-of-one Lyn Anderson claims she was passed over for promotion after complaining about their behaviour.

The healthcare officer in Durham Prison's close supervision unit said she was reduced to tears of shame by drunken colleagues.

They are alleged to have made lewd remarks about her looks and criticised her ability to do her job.

The Newcastle tribunal heard Mrs Anderson's line manager, principal officer Paul Davis, senior officer Tom Dobbins and another senior officer had been drinking heavily during a conference at Wakefield, in March last year.

Mrs Anderson, of Prudhoe, near Gateshead, said she was talking to her husband on the telephone when Mr Davis and his colleagues rounded on her.

He is alleged to have said, "Lyn, you look lovely. I didn't recognise you without your clothes on", a reference to her being out of uniform.

She said Mr Dobbins was drunk and "eyed me up and down like a piece of meat".

He is then alleged to have said, "Yes, I suppose she is quite good looking", before he launched into a tirade of abuse about her personality and work skills.

Mrs Anderson, who deals with violent and disturbed criminals, said she was humiliated and made a formal complaint to the prison governor.

Returning from annual leave, she found a post she was hoping to be promoted to had been filled by a relative newcomer, she told the tribunal.

Mrs Anderson believes she was ignored because she took offence at the officers' behaviour.

The hearing continues.