A social worker fired by Surrey County Council has been suspended from practising for 12 months after ignoring a policy against drinking alcohol during working hours.

Mark Anthony Newman, who worked in the fostering team at the council, was suspended from practising for 12 months following a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) hearing which ended on October 30.

A conduct and competence committee at the HCPC heard that Mr Newman came to work smelling of alcohol on a number of occasions between October 2008 and March 2012.

In the same period, Mr Newman was also said to have consumed alcohol during the working day, despite his employer’s zero tolerance policy.

During the hearing, the council stressed that Mr Newman had a history of alcohol consumption over several years and a pattern of relying on alcohol for self-medication, as a way to deal with the stress and anxiety of his job.

The council was aware of his consumption and he received his final written warning in 2011. In March 2012, Mr Newman was suspended from his role by the council and dismissed in May 2012 following an internal hearing.

A Surrey County Council spokeswoman said: “We do have a zero tolerance policy and did try to support him to overcome the problem before we dismissed him.”

Mr Newman joined the county council in 1982 and, before his suspension, worked as a supervising social work responsible for assessing, supervising and supporting foster carers and their families.

William Nelson, chairman of the panel, said: “The registrant has denied that he had been drinking or that he had a problem with alcohol dependency for many years. The panel noted that the registrant’s acknowledgement of this behaviour has been a relatively recent event.

“The panel also notes that whilst the registrant has gained some insight into his condition, this is limited to the fact that he has used alcohol to get him through the working day.

“From the evidence of Ms Foster, the panel heard that at the time of his dismissal the registrant had still not gained an insight into the reasons why this use of alcohol was inappropriate behaviour and the impact that this conduct has had on his judgment or his professional standing.”

At the hearing, the panel chose to suspend Mr Newman from the HCPC register for 12 months with an interim suspension order in place to cover the appeal period.

Mr Newman did not attend and was not represented at the hearing.