The Mayor of London has condemned the sacking of a Heathrow catering worker for wearing a Hindu nose stud.

Amrit Lalji, 40, of Stanmore, north-west London, said she wore the tiny piercing as a mark of her Hindu faith.

She was asked to remove it by a manager but when she refused she was suspended and later sacked.

Mr Livingstone said, "I unreservedly condemn the sacking of Mrs Amrit Lalji for wearing a Hindu nose stud.

"It is an attack on her right to freely express her religion and an attack on her right as a woman to dress as she wishes.

"Hundreds of millions of people follow the Hindu religion and it is difficult to imagine a worse way to welcome visitors from the Indian sub-continent to London than sacking a woman for wearing a Hindu nose stud."

"The fight for freedom of conscience was fought over many centuries in this country and it is intolerable that people who express their religious faith, whether as Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or any other faith, should lose their jobs because they wear clothing or jewellery expressing their religion."

The company Amrit worked for, Eurest, said for health and safety reasons jewellery and piercings were not allowed at work.

The GMB Union representing Mrs Lalji, said it would fight to have her reinstated as soon as possible.

The nose stud has been worn by Hindu women for thousands of years as a sign of chastity.