The fiancee of ex-England goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, has launched a whistleblowing case against her former employers, Care UK.

Steph Hayward, 47, arrived with Mr Shilton at the offices of Fisher Jones Greenwood in Southway this morning for a private preliminary hearing.

The nature of Ms Hayward's whistleblowing allegations have not been made public.

Speaking to the press outside the solicitors' office, Mr Shilton said: "I can confirm we have got a solicitor today in London representing Steph against Care UK, Steph's previous employers.

"It's down to the solicitors at the moment. All I would like to say is she does really care about the health service.

"I'm very proud of her. I've got to say that something like this isn't easy.

"I am fully behind her.

"This is a preliminary hearing and we've got to take it from there."

A spokesman for Care UK said: "Ms Haywood was employed by us last year for a period of two months.

"We dismissed her during the probationary period and she was given the opportunity to appeal.

"Her case was carefully considered however it would be inappropriate for us to discuss specific details while there’s an on-going employment tribunal.

"During the process of dismissal, Ms Haywood raised some concerns which we fully investigated prior to our decision and again as a part of the appeal process.

"On both occasions we found nothing to substantiate her concerns. 

"Our whistleblowing policy actively encourages colleagues to report anything they feel uncomfortable about at work and somebody would never be at risk of losing their job as a result of raising a genuine concern."

Mr Shilton confirmed a date would be set today for an employment tribunal.

The pair are due to marry in the Colchester area in December.