A Christian woman dismissed from her job at Heathrow claims she was the victim of religious abuse from fundamentalist Muslims working at the airport.

Nohad Halawi, who worked as a saleswoman at the duty free section, said she had persistently complained to management about the religious abuse and harassment she and other colleagues had faced from Muslim staff.

She alleges that Muslim colleagues ridiculed her "shitty Jesus".

Her case is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which said unsubstantiated claims were made against Mrs Halawi regarding her conduct.

She raised concerns about the bullying of a colleague by Muslim workers and was later dismissed from her job.

Her employers, Autogrill Retail UK Limited, which operates the World Duty Free shop where she worked, and Caroline South Associates, for whom she sold perfumes, told her that she has no legal employment rights because she was hired as a part-time, commission-based worker.

She had her security pass removed by Heathrow Duty Free and told she was no longer welcome to trade at Heathrow Airport.

A petition, signed by 22 colleagues at Heathrow, including Muslims, said Mrs Halawi had been the victim of “malicious and unfounded allegations”.

“We find this incident particularly worrying as it appears to allow individuals to perniciously use the ‘race and religion card’ to besmirch a fellow colleague”, the petition states.

The CLC has voiced concerns about religious discrimination, workers’ rights and national security.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “It raises huge issues. First, there is the level of Islamic fundamentalism prevalent at our main point of entry to the UK.

“Secondly, there are very real issues of religious discrimination, which it would appear those in authority are turning a blind eye to, using the current loop-holes in employment law as an excuse.

“Thirdly, there is a very big issue of justice. Nohad represents tens of thousands of people across the UK who work, in all but name, as ‘employees’ for companies and yet, have absolutely no employment rights.”