A nurse who was moved to a desk job after refusing to remove her crucifix has lost a claim for discrimination.

Shirley Chaplin (54) took the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust Hospital to an employment tribunal, claiming that taking off a necklace bearing a crucifix would “violate her faith”.

The trust said the move was not specifically about the crucifix, but about health and safety concerns about patients grabbing necklaces.

Yesterday employment tribunal panel chairman John Hollow found against Mrs Chaplin, who had worn the emblem throughout her 30 years as a nurse.

Mr Hollow ruled the trust had acted in a “reasonable” manner in trying to reach a compromise.

He said the damage to her was “slight” and noted that wearing a crucifix was not a requirment of the Christian faith. After the hearing Mrs Chaplin said the result was “a bad day for Christianity.”

She vowed not to remove the crucifix, explaining: “I wouldn't have gone this far if I was prepared to take it off.

“I was always prepared to modify the chain with a magnetic clasp (meaning that it would separate more easily if grabbed by a patient).”

Her lawyer Paul Diamond said the case would now go to employment appeal tribunal in London.

In a 71-point statement, Mrs Chaplin, who wore the crucifix to the hearing in her home city of Exeter, had said she was “personally convicted” to wear the emblem, given to her as a confirmation gift in 1971.

She said: “I have been a nurse for roughly 30 years and throughout that time I have worn my crucifix.

“The crucifix is an exceptionally important expression of my faith and my belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“To deliberately remove or hide my crucifix or to treat it disrespectfully would violate my faith.”

She started working for the trust continuously in 1989, being made a grade D nurse in 1994, and promoted to an E grade nurse on 2001. Wearing the old uniform, the cross was visible and she wore it safely for 30 years, Mrs Chaplin said.

When a new-style uniform was introduced, there were still no issues until she was asked to remove the necklace last summer

It was suggested she pin the crucifix inside her uniform but Mrs Chaplin could not accept that.

In September a request to keep the cross pinned outside her uniform was turned down, she said.

Last July, she was told she was facing a “disciplinary sanction”. In August she was threatened with formal disciplinary action.

She said she received a letter in September telling her the cross was not a “mandatory requirement” of her faith, unlike Muslim headscarves, which “therefore could be exempted”.

Later that month she accepted formal re-deployment from frontline duties.