THE boss of P&O ferries has insisted the company did not break the law by sacking 800 seafarers in a shocking U-turn as he revealed 39 Scottish jobs would be lost.

Last week, Peter Hebblethwaite admitted there was "absolutely no doubt" that under UK employment law the firm was required to consult unions before making mass cuts which it did not do.

But appearing in front of the Scottish Parliament's transport committee on Tuesday Hebblethwaite went back on this and said P&O had not broken the law.

After being questioned by MSP Brian Whittle, Hebblethwaite said: "What I said was we failed to consult, and we are compensating for that. That is different from illegal.

"We are very, very confident we have not done something illegal. If the laws change, we will comply with those. This is a fundamental change that moves us onto a level playing field with 80% of global shipping."

During the grilling by the committee, Hebblethwaite was described by Monica Lennon as the "most hated man in Britain" and a "failure of a chief executive" as he insisted he would not resign from his post.

Lennon said: "It is hard to believe anything that comes out of your mouth.

"You're leading the committee to believe that you are a saviour. You are a failure of a chief executive. How do you sleep at night?"

Hebblethwaite said sacking the workers was the only option the business had and it was a decision designed to save thousands of jobs.

He added: "I have no plans to resign, I need to see this through. I need to get this business back up on its feet. I need to make it competitive, viable and give us an opportunity to grow in the future and service the needs of Northern Ireland and Scotland on a route that I believe is incredibly exciting."

When asked by several committee members whether he would be happy to work for £5.15 an hour rather than the £156 an hour he is effectively on, he simply said he did not choose a career that led him to be a seafarer.

It has emerged new workers are being paid between £5.15 and £6 an hour.

"I don’t think seafaring is all about money, I think people love it," said Hebblethwaite.

"I have chosen a particular career and it’s led to me sitting here answering questions, totally appropriately. I didn’t choose a path that led me to be a seafarer."

When pressed on what it would take for him to quit by Jackie Dunbar, he said: "I don’t know the answer to that.  I think that I have had to make an incredibly difficult decision. I do think it was a better decision than closing the business to implement that decision in a very difficult way."

At several points, Hebblethwaite said P&O had been supported to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds by its shareholder and it was "not appropriate for me or the board to expect unconditional support for a business without a plan for change."

However, Hebblethwaite said the company had not come under any pressure from the shareholder to sack workers.

Fiona Hyslop, deputy convener of the committee, said: “The fact this management is prepared to break the law and openly admit it is unforgivable.

“This morning’s session has done nothing to provide reassurances. This management can only be described as shameless. We wholly condemn the unethical practices they have chosen to adopt, their utter disdain for fair work, and agree unanimously that the management’s position is untenable.

“We will now write to both the UK and Scottish Governments and our counterpart Westminster committees to set out our serious concerns and share our support and determination this employment malpractice needs to be urgently addressed.”