A CATHOLIC man and wife have accused Strathclyde Police of discriminating against them on religious grounds after filing married couples in the same group as civil partners in electronic personnel records.

Lucille and Frank McQuade, from Motherwell, complained after their status as civilian employees of the force was changed from married to married/civil partnership.

The couple, who have been wed 26 years, told a Glasgow employment tribunal they had deeply held religious beliefs as Christians as to the sanctity of marriage and found the description as married/civil partners offensive causing injury to their feelings as married persons.

Strathclyde Police urged a preliminary tribunal hearing to throw out their claims on the grounds of religion and sex because they had no reasonable prospect of success, or, alternatively, to order Mr and Mrs McQuade to pay a deposit of £500 each as a condition of the case proceeding further.

The force argued the change in category in electronic Scope status records was necessary following the new Civil Partnership Act and regulations preventing discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

It said if marriage and civil partnership were recorded as separate categories it would disclose information of a confidential nature to other parties as it could be possible to determine an individual's sexual orientation.

The police said the McQuades suffered no disadvantage or detriment.

Mr McQuade, 49, a communications officer at Motherwell, said the force "deliberately omitted to consider the genuine religious sensitivities of employees with the same religious beliefs as us."

Mrs McQuade, 46, has since left her post as a CID clerk and now works with the Catholic Parliamentary Office and Fertility Care Scotland.

After the hearing, she said "We find it offensive that people don't know if we are married or civil partners."

The couple, who are not claiming money, have a grown up family of three.

The tribunal will issue its judgment later.