A BULKY driver has been given the elbow from the AA - for being too fat. Tony Dowd, who weighs more than 20-stone, had been with the company for just two days when he was given the heave-ho.

The Class One driver from Albany Road in Chatham was shocked to be told by a manager that he was just too fat for the job. He said: “I was stunned by the manager’s comments. It made me feel low and depressed.

“I admit I am overweight but it has never stopped me doing my job. I could fit in the cars and I have no problem with lifting.

“My weight has never stopped me doing any job and this has all been very hurtful. I’m even a member of the AA - I wish I wasn’t now.”

Mr Dowd, 46, had been sent to the AA base in Flodden Road, London, by the Ransted Agency.

His job was to supposed to have been transporting cars across the London area but, despite passing all the written tests on the induction course, he never got the chance to work.

He said: “I don’t know exactly how much I weigh. You’d have to tie two scales together for me to be able to get on them. But as long as I can get inside a car and drive it, I don’t see what the problem is.

“The AA should have told me straight away if they thought that I was too big. But they let me spend two days up there and take all the tests, which I passed.”

The AA has apologised for its lack of tact in handling the situation with Mr Dowd and has agreed to pay him a full week’s wage. An AA spokesman said: “The AA accepts that the situation with Mr Dowd was not handled as tactfully as it should have been.

“We apologise for any hurt that the matter might have caused. We do not believe that Mr Dowd would have been suitable for the role for which he was presented.

“Although he passed the manual handling test we feel that he would been unable to carry out all of the tasks required of him.”