Wolverhampton company tells lorry driver he can't have a job because he's British
A recruitment worker has been sacked after a lorry driver was told he couldn't have a job in the UK because he was British.
Michael Fowler applied for the role with Wolverhampton-based recruitment firm Blu Global and was shocked when he received a reply saying British people were not being considered.
The company, on Waterloo Road, has apologised and said it does not discriminate applicants based on nationality.
The freelance worker who made the gaffe had her contract terminated 'immediately', the company said.
Mr Fowler had responded to an online job advert for delivery drivers but was swiftly told he was not eligible.
He received a reply which said 'are you British because our positions exclude British candidates?'.
The 39-year-old, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, said he was 'gobsmacked' by the response.
He applied for the role on jobsite Indeed, and said it required applicants 'to live and work in the EU'.
It also asked that applicants be EU citizens and have a good level of English.
Mr Fowler, who has been driving lorries for 12 years, said: "I was just gobsmacked. I thought I must have read the job advert wrong, but I hadn’t.”
Blu Global, which says on its website it has placed more than 1,500 Europeans into work in the UK, said in a statement: "Blu Global’s policy is to not discriminate against any potential candidate that uses our services to find employment, and we refute any allegations that we, as a business, discriminate in any way against our UK based applicants.
"We are fully committed to welcoming all candidates that have the required skills and experiences and will only base any candidate rejections on these criteria alone.
"No candidate is denied a chance of employment based on their nationality, age, race, gender or sexual orientation.
"We can confirm that we continuously place candidates of European and British nationality within all of our past and present clients as we advertise for, and recruit, candidates both in the UK and across mainland Europe.
"Any deviation from this policy, by any member of staff or any independent person/organisation acting under or using the Blu Global brand, is not supported in any way by the company and will be fully investigated.
"The independent freelance consultant has had her contract for service terminated with us immediately after the events."
