Brecon and Radnorshire MP Chris Davies will face a full employment tribunal hearing after an application by an ex-member of staff to strike the case out was refused.

Mr Davies is being sued for constructive dismissal by former constituency office manager, Sarah Lewis.

Mrs Lewis, 57, a Conservative councillor sitting on Powys County Council, uncovered the Tory MP's bid to claim expenses for £700-worth of photos using two fake invoices.

She went on sick leave from the Brecon and Radnorshire Conservative Association in January last year, after raising her concerns in December, and quit in April.

At a preliminary hearing at the Wales Employment Tribunal in Cardiff on Thursday, May 23, Mrs Lewis' legal team attempted to have the case struck out on the grounds of alleged 'scandalous, unreasonable or vexatious' conduct by Mr Davies, 51.

The tribunal heard Mr Davies' legal team – acting on information provided by the MP – told an Employment Judge on November 22 last year that the police were not charging their client with criminal offences.

Mr Davies had been interviewed at Scotland Yard for a second time a month earlier – but no such decision had been made regarding charges.

A file was subsequently submitted to the CPS and Mr Davies was charged in February this year.

He pleaded guilty in March to one count of providing false or misleading information for allowances claims and one of attempting to do so, and was fined £1,500.

Mr Davies was questioned at the tribunal hearing when Mrs Lewis’ legal team argued that "a fair trial is not possible," as a result of the incorrect information given to the tribunal.

Barrister Nathaniel Caiden, appearing for Mrs Lewis, asked Mr Davies: "You knew this to be an issue in the case. Do you accept you created a misleading impression?"

Mr Davies replied: "I don't accept that. That is what I believed was happening."

The MP said that during a second police interview at Scotland Yard last October, he was "led to believe" no charges would be brought.

"I was asked to supply some additional evidence and when that interview came to an end the officer told me he would be concluding the case that week and passing it up to his boss," Mr Davies said.

"He said that he hoped that would be the end of it, and that the mitigating circumstances were immense in this case.

"I was led to believe no charges would be brought. It was my assumption that was what was happening. I've never been through this kind of police procedure before."

But the tribunal heard Mrs Lewis' legal team was told in an email from detectives that files were being passed to the CPS, and that "in no way would it be accurate to say the police were not taking this further."

News broke that Mr Davies was being charged with criminal offences under the Parliamentary Standards Act on February 21.

Acting for Mr Davies, Tom Perry told the tribunal: "It's entirely believable that Mr Davies was under an enormous amount of pressure.

"Something was said off the cuff by a police officer which led my client to believe this was not going any further.

"There was no benefit from lying in this situation. Everyone wanted this case to go ahead. There has been no prejudice and it does not affect whether this case can now go ahead."

Passing judgment, Employment Judge Mr Paul Cadney denied Mrs Lewis' application to strike out the case.

He ruled: "The respondent says the evidence was provided to his solicitor and he understood it to be true.

"I accept his evidence and do not find there was a deliberate effort to mislead the tribunal."

The full hearing will now begin in Cardiff on December 6.