An army of volunteers to help the elderly in their homes became restless when they lost their regular monthly training meeting slot to a local dancing group, an industrial tribunal heard yesterday.

Relations deteriorated between the executive committee and the Dixon Community voluntary street wardens and it eventually led to the sacking of co-ordinator Peggy O'Donnell, a former Scotswoman of the year, after 18 years.

Mrs O'Donnell, who is claiming she was unfairly dismissed, told a Glasgow tribunal yesterday how the street wardens, who support the elderly in their homes and help alleviate loneliness, lost the use of the hall in Glasgow's south side for their monthly training sessions after meeting on the last Tuesday of the month for almost 20 years. It had been let for dance sessions instead.

Mrs O'Donnell, street warden co-ordinator with the Dixon Community, a charitable project, said it was programmed into volunteers to keep that time free. Meetings at other times had not been well attended.

She said: ''The pattern had been established for 20 years. That was the most successful time to have the majority of street wardens there for that training.''

She said the street wardens were very unhappy and she kept raising the matter with the executive.

''It didn't matter to me personally what day of the week it was because I was there every day but it obviously mattered to the street wardens,'' she said.

''The feedback I was getting was that the Dixon community was being unfair to them. It affected morale.

''I think I became a nuisance to the executive as it was such a huge concern to me as a worker. I was latterly told at one meeting to 'shut up. We are fed up listening to you. It's off the agenda'.''

Mrs O'Donnell said she resigned from another post as manager of a community flats project after nine workers quit around Christmas 1996 and she had trouble replacing them. She claimed she received no support.

She said: ''I was feeling very stressed, very stretched, very sad. I didn't often ask for help in my years with the Dixon community. I felt I wasn't getting the support I should have been getting as a worker.''

Matters escalated when a group of street wardens wrote to the executive committee saying they no longer wished to be associated with the Dixon Community. Forming a breakaway group was mentioned.

Mrs O'Donnell said she didn't support any plan to break away but said she sympathised with the street wardens.

''The original dispute was over the hall but from that came a lot of issues. They felt they were not part of the Dixon Community any more because no attempts were made to resolve their problems.''

Mrs O'Donnell said she felt she had done everything she could and it was time for the executive committee to take action. She was asked to mediate but refused.

Mrs O'Donnell, from Cathcart, Glasgow, was accused of disloyalty and sacked for gross misconduct. She wants the tribunal to order her reinstatement.

Earlier, her former secretary claimed that shortly before Mrs O'Donnell was suspended, she had instructed her to wipe the computer. Mrs O'Donnell denied this. The hearing continues.