An ex-soldier who claims he suffered racist discrimination and victimisation told a tribunal how a mix-up led to him missing an exercise and being disciplined.

Marlon Clancy, 28, who lives in Malpas, made the claim at a Cardiff employment tribunal yesterday.

Belize-born Mr Clancy says he suffered racial discrimination while based in Chepstow and Colchester.

He joined the army in 1999 as a private, serving as a chef in the 10th Transport Regiment and 16th Close Support Medical Regiment in Colchester before joining 2nd Yorkshire Battalion at Beachley Barracks, Chepstow.

Mr Clancy claims he was bullied by colleagues in the kitchen and overlooked for courses which could lead to promotion.

He told the tribunal that he had received "conflicting instructions" about an exercise that left on October 24 2005.

Mr Clancy said that in the past, he had on occasion attended exercises in place of a colleague who suffered from a medical condition and on other occasions didn’t.

The exercise in question was pre-deployment training before a visit to Oman.

Mr Clancy said that his name appeared on a list of those attending an exercise issued on the Friday afternoon.

But when he arrived to take part on Monday morning, he says that he was told he wasn’t going.

Despite this, he said: "I had to sign a statement agreeing I failed to attend the parade. I didn’t have a choice and had to sign it."

Proceeding.