A pregnant woman from Whitehall is furious after being told by her employer just weeks before she is due to give birth that she is not entitled to maternity pay.

Fiona Jones, 43, has worked as a cleaner at Whitehall Primary School since September 2008, waking up at 5am to clean eight classrooms every morning.

Mrs Jones, who is eight months pregnant, left her cleaning job last month, and expected her maternity pay to start last week.

But just days ago she received a form through the post from her employer, Bristol City Council, informing her that she was not entitled to maternity pay because she earned too little.

Mrs Jones, who is married to Peter, 44, who is currently unemployed, told the Evening Post: "I know I'm only a cleaner, but I'm just as good as the next person. I worked right up until the last minute, even though there were days when I didn't feel like going in. I just kept thinking to myself that it would be worth it, I would get my maternity money soon. They left it until last Saturday to send me a letter saying I wasn't getting anything."

Mrs Jones, of Bourneville Road, followed protocol and had a maternity certificate filled out by her midwife with details about the birth date that she gave her employer months ago.

The council told the Evening Post they would investigate why there was a delay in informing Mrs Jones of her entitlement.

Mrs Jones left her £6.12-per-hour job on September 16, after a year of working 6am to 8am, Monday to Friday.

"I've had one day off since I've been there," said Mrs Jones. "Why did they let me think until now that I was going to get maternity pay? I have now applied for Government maternity money, but have been told this could take three to four weeks to come through. What am I supposed to do until then?

"If I was told this at 25 weeks, then fair enough, but to just wait until days before I had expected to get paid is disgusting. It's just a joke."

Mrs Jones baby boy, Liam Shaun Luke Jones, is due on November 27. In the meantime, Mrs Jones will have to borrow money from family members in order to get by.

She said: "I was led to believe I was going to get this money. No one told me that I wasn't working enough hours.

"I'm stuck now for three to four weeks. My husband is out of work. I feel like I have been smacked in the face. I feel like I have been used. I didn't feel that great going in as I got bigger throughout the pregnancy, but I'm a good employee so I kept going in.

"I've been really loyal. I was up there when we had all the snow. I've had one day off in a year. This whole situation is making me stressed at a time when I should be relaxing."

Mrs Jones had expected to get £256 a month from her employer, but instead all she can expect from the Government is £45 per week.

City council spokesperson Julia Walton said: "Council employees going on maternity leave are now informed of their entitlements through the Family Information Service.

"If there are any cases where this has not happened correctly or there has been a delay, we will investigate the reasons for this."

The law states that all female employees are entitled to one-year maternity pay regardless of how long they have worked for a company. To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, the employee's weekly earnings must not be below the current rate at which National Insurance Contributions must be paid. The lowest earning limit for 2008/09 is £90 per week.

For the first six weeks of leave, the employee is entitled to 90 per cent of their normal weekly pay, and after that a minimum of £123.06 per week for 33 weeks.

If an employee decides not to return to work at the end of the maternity leave, she is still entitled to receive the full amount of her maternity leave and pay but she must give the notice period set out in her contract.