AN RNLI crewman claimed a lifeboat station was run as a "personal piggy bank and stores for local fishermen and some crew", a tribunal heard.

The claim was made by former mechanic and crew member David Martin, who had been a full-time member of the Lizard lifeboat.

The 54-year-old told an Exeter employment tribunal that there was "stealing, thieving and unsafe practices" going on at the station in West Cornwall.

He claimed that a civilian – a doctor's wife – had gone up the wire of a helicopter, which is not allowed without training, an allegation an RNLI boss admitted to the tribunal was an "unacceptable practise".

Mr Martin, who lives on The Lizard, also claimed the only other full-time member of the crew, coxswain Philip Burgess, had been moonlighting, working with the contractors of a local barge for £150 a day as well as crab fishing.

But after a three-day hearing, the Exeter panel rejected his claims and said the RNLI was justified in sacking him for gross misconduct.

The RNLI lawyers said Mr Martin was sacked for threatening, aggressive and intimidating behaviour against RNLI members. And they said Mr Martin also tried to discredit the institution and to disrupt a £2.5 million fundraising effort for a new Lizard lifeboat.

Tribunal judge John Hollow ruled that Mr Martin's allegations were not made on good faith, but were made because of "personal antagonism" towards full-time coxswain Philip Burgess and second coxswain David Hill. He described the sacked mechanic as a "hard working and competent individual", but dismissed the case.

Mr Martin had alleged to the tribunal: "For over eight weeks prior to 11th September 2008 ... in all this time Mr Burgess did not carry out his duties at the station or help me in my duties, which I carried out regardless of his moonlighting."

He also claimed that the second coxswain, David Hill, "does not hold one qualification to helm a boat and that, in our opinion, he was unsafe and dangerous when he was acting as duty coxswain".

Mr Martin informed a training inspector and his line manager about the second coxswain. He said Mr Hill was assessed during an exercise at the Lizard and Mr Martin claimed the inspector "was so shocked by the performance of David Hill he then restricted him to local waters only".

The tribunal heard that, on September 12 last year, Mr Martin went to work and "had words" with coxswain Burgess "about his lack of consideration and cavalier attitude towards his duties at the station". Later that day, the RNLI's divisional inspector, Simon Price, rang him to say Mr Burgess had made allegations that Mr Martin had been confrontational.

"I found this to be an insult and degrading," said Mr Martin. "I then informed him about a civilian going up on the wire on the helicopter, which is not allowed, also the moonlighting by Philip and the fraud."

When Mr Martin said he had sent a report to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Health and Safety Executive about the second coxswain's alleged lack of qualifications, Mr Price suspended him on full pay.

Mr Martin said in his statement that to suspend him and not Mr Burgess – "we have made allegations against each other" – would "send out a clear message to the community that I was guilty of something".

Mr Martin had been claiming unfair dismissal and whistleblowing.