A CATHOLIC airport worker from Atherton was suspended for hanging an image of Jesus on a staff room wall.

Gareth Langmead, aged 40, was sent home from his job as a Manchester Airport car park supervisor after complaints from a Muslim colleague.

He was off work for three days while airport officials investigated the complaint. But then he was reinstated without a blemish on his record.

Mr Langmead found the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - the subject of devotion by many Catholics - as he was clearing out a desk drawer. He felt unable to throw it away so hung it on the wall in the staff room, prompting a complaint that it had been put up as "an act of provocation".

Mr Langmead was escorted off the premises and suspended while bosses investigated the claim, eventually reaching the decision that he had done nothing wrong.

A spokesman for the airport said Mr Langmead had returned to work and had not made any complaints about his treatment.

But the spokesman admitted lessons would be learned from how the incident was handled.

He said: "Given the nature of this incident, we have agreed with our airport chaplain that he and his team will work with the employees involved to foster a greater level of understanding about each other's beliefs and put this in the context of the workplace."

Mr Langmead's suspension comes weeks after a Hindu worker at Heathrow Airport lost her job for wearing a religious nose stud. Amrit Lalji, 40, was reinstated after an appeal.

And last year Nadia Eweida, a Christian customer services check-in worker at Heathrow, was suspended by British Airways for four months for wearing a cross around her neck.

She returned to work after British Airways agreed to review its uniform policy.