A British Airways employee has lost her appeal against the company's refusal to allow her to wear a cross necklace.

|PIC1|Check-in worker Nadia Eweida, 55, of Twickenham, was told in October that she must not display a small necklace cross over her clothes, but instead hide it under her blouse or cravat. Since that time she has been on unpaid leave.

After meeting with airline bosses on Monday, Eweida was told that she had lost her internal appeal against the decision.

The 55-year-old had appealed against the decision, saying that she should be entitled to openly proclaim her Christian faith.

"In seven years I have not had any complaints from passengers about my cross being visible," Eweida told Sky News.

BA, however, denied it had banned the wearing of crosses and said Eweida had a right to a second appeal. The company has come under heavy criticism from leaders of other faiths but has said its uniform policy stated that such items could be worn if concealed underneath the uniform.

Eweida has said to reporters that she was effectively "forced" to take unpaid leave after refusing to hide the symbol.

During Monday's meeting, British Airways explained that it respected her faith and accepted the cross was not jewellery, but would stand firm on its original decision.

Eweida said following the verdict: "I am fairly disappointed but I'm looking forward to the next stage because the cross is important and the truth will be revealed. It is important to wear it to express my faith so that other people will know that Jesus loves them."

At the centre of Ms Eweida's fight has been the fact that people of other faiths are allowed by BA to wear visible religious symbols such as headscarves, and she is dismayed at why Christians should not be allowed to do so also.

The second-most senior clergyman in the Church of England, Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has firmly supported Eweida's fight, labelling BA's decision as "nonsense".

BA released a statement saying: "British Airways has 34,000 uniformed staff, all of whom know they must abide by our uniform policy. The policy does not ban staff from wearing a cross. It lays down that personal items of jewellery, including crosses may be worn - but underneath the uniform. Other airlines have the same policy.

"The policy recognises that it is not practical for some religious symbols - such as turbans and hijabs - to be worn underneath the uniform. This is purely a question of practicality. There is no discrimination between faiths.

"In Nadia Eweida's case, she is not suspended and we want her to come back to work. We have explained to her the need to comply with the uniform policy like all her colleagues whatever their faith."

BA also added that it had tried to compensate Eweida by offering her a separate non-uniformed post where the company would have no problem allowing her to wear her cross, however, she refused to accept.