A 37-YEAR-OLD woman who was made redundant within a few months of having a miscarriage has received £10,000 compensation from a Northwich engineering company.

Diane Stredder accepted an out-of-court settlement from her former employer O'Hare Engineering Ltd, the Equal Opportunities Commission announced last week.

The mother-of-one claims that when she became pregnant five months after joining the company as a tax advisor and financial controller in April 1999, her manager's attitude towards her changed.

In October Diane suffered a miscarriage, returning to work the day after she was discharged from hospital, and later took four days off with tonsilitis.

But when she returned she was told her sickness record was unsatisfactory and, in February last year, she was made redundant.

"The whole thing was ghastly and my bosses had no concept of what I was going through," said Diane, who lives in Frodsham.

"A miscarriage is a traumatic experience and I hope that this settlement will mean other women who suffer a miscarriage don't also have to go through what I did at work."

A spokesman for O'Hare Engineering Ltd, based in Winnington Avenue, said the company had not admitted liability and did not wish to comment any further on the matter.

But Julie Mellor, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said O'Hare Engineering had agreed to consult with them on its equal opportunities, redundancy and grievance policies.

"Employees should be able to expect a supportive and sensitive response from their employer when they are going through personally difficult events," she added.