A Carshalton woman has failed in her attempt to claim £1m from her former employers despite not having worked since she left the company in 2006.

Joanna MacLennan, 36, of Ranfurly Road, was attempting to claim damages from Hartford Europe LTD where she worked as a Human Resources Manager.

Widow Mrs MacLennan, who suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and uses two walking sticks, told the hearing at The High Court how work had made her ill as she was working 12 hour days.

After taking time off following her diagnosis, the company decided in 2006 Mrs MacLennan "had to be replaced because she could no longer do the job."

Mrs MacLennan told Mr Justice Hickinbottom at the High Court how she "couldn't take it" after receiving calls at home from people at the company to talk about work matters, when a doctor had told her not to have contact with work.

She said: "Nobody was listening to me. I was just trying to do what the doctor said."

The phone calls prompted Mrs MacLennan's mum to tell her colleagues to "back off" as her daughter could "barely" walk or talk at the time, the court was told.

The court heard one doctor suggested she "get a new job".

However, last week (February 24) Justice Hickinbottom ruled against Mrs MacLennans claim, saying he was not convinced her illness was caused by her job.