Employers in the Black Country are finding reasons to sack workers rather than going through the more expensive redundancy route, the Citizens Advice Bureau claimed today.

The CAB in Wolverhampton has had a major surge in inquiries relating to dismissal and a drop regarding redundancy in the last year.

The number of employment queries to the bureau in 2008/9 that related to dismissals was 285, which rocketed to 450 in 2009/10, a growth of 57 per cent.

Chief executive Jeremy Vanes said the figures show the recession is hitting employers hard, and they are finding ways to save cash by sacking staff.

He said: “The number of times we deal with inquiries about dismissal has grown substantially in the last year.

“We think there has been a substantial rise in the number of dismissals. Redundancy is a bit long-winded and costs more. Dismissal is a very cheap way of getting rid of people.

“Several cases suggest that employers who ought to be using redundancy have gone down the route of dismissal.”

Mr Vanes said an example of one dismissal he has had to deal with recently was a man sacked for having an accident in a forklift truck.

With the help of the CAB he was awarded a payout as a result of an unfair dismissal claim.