The former chief executive of an Oxford hospital is suing the NHS for more than £300,000.

Colin Jones is taking legal action after he was dismissed from the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

If he wins the High Court case, hospital managers will have to pay him the damages - the cost of 80 hip operations.

Mr Jones, 57, of The Farthings, Marcham, near Abingdon, was told to leave following allegations made about his conduct at work.

He was not given any pension entitlements or his three-year notice pay.

But Mr Jones claims the move has cost him his career. He believes his dismissal was wrongful and in breach of contract.

He is claiming £151,833 for three years' loss of salary in lieue of notice and £170,412 for lost earnings.

Managers at the hospital suspended Mr Jones on full pay in April last year following complaints from other members of staff.

They claimed they tried to hold a disciplinary hearing on four separate occasions, but Mr Jones failed to come because of sickness. As a result, they terminated his contract in January.

Neither Mr Jones or anyone at the hospital was willing to comment.

A date for the hearing has not yet been arranged.