A Covid testing site worker said he was fired after returning from Friday prayers late.

Mohammed Shahid, 26, said he had been working at various Covid testing sites since January and had never had an issue before.

However, in November at Royal Blackburn Hospital, when he returned from Friday prayers he was told he had been sacked.

The weekly Friday prayers which normally take place after 1pm at mosques are obligatory for practising Muslims.

The firm running the testing site Sodexo said it ‘supports employees wherever possible to enable them to observe and practice in accordance with their religious beliefs’ but would not clarify why Mohammed was dismissed.

He said: “I normally go to Friday prayers at whichever site I am working at and there has never been an issue. Alongside other colleagues who wish to attend I will go to the local mosque and then make our way back. I do this in my own lunch hour.

“I got told I couldn’t go as the site needed to be manned. I stayed back even thought there were two other staff there. I then had to rush off to mosque.

“As the local mosques had already had their prayers I ended up going to Accrington.”

Mohammed says that on his way back he got delayed due to traffic.

He said: “It was busy on the way back and I had explained where I was going. They made a big deal out of it when I got back.

“I got no chance to explain. I have never been late to work nor had any disciplinary before. It is really shocking.”

A spokesperson for Sodexo said: “We are an organisation with a diverse workforce and we support our employees wherever possible to enable them to observe and practice in accordance with their religious beliefs.

“This includes making time available and providing space at our test centres for prayers as well as making sure employees have enough time to travel off site for prayers if needed.

“It is really important that we do this, and all our test centres ensure this is the case, however, we are unable to discuss personal details around an individual’s work record.”

Mohammed said he was unaware of prayer facilities at the site he had worked on.