An employee at a nut-free food factory who was aggrieved at being disciplined for having a "girlie" calendar at work took his revenge by scattering peanuts, a court was told today.

Paul Bentley, 42, is accused of possessing material for contamination and making threats to kill after spreading the nuts, which are strictly banned from the Pork Farms factory in Nottingham for allergy reasons.

The factory had to close for 24 hours and the incident cost the company more than £1 million, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

Human resources officer Sophie Maughan, one of Mr Bentley's colleagues, described how production was halted and staff sent to the canteen after deposits of peanuts were discovered in various places throughout the firm’s Riverside Bakery, which makes nut-free products for Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.

Mr Bentley, of Listowel Crescent, Clifton, Nottingham, denies the charges.

The offence, on July 12 2007, took place at a time when bosses were considering making half of the workforce redundant, meaning there was “a lot of ill-will” among staff, the jury heard.

The court was told that the factory had been sold by previous owner Northern Foods in January 2007.

Miss Maughan said that managers had quickly realised that the peanuts had been dropped deliberately. Mr Bentley became a suspect because of the calendar incident the previous day, and because he was seen with another worker near to where some of the nuts were found prior to their discovery.

Miss Maughan told the jury: “Someone had come to me and said they had seen Paul in an area where the nuts had been found. Paul was on the radar as someone who it might have been.”

Miss Maughan described how the managers had all staff lockers searched straight after the incident. A padlock on Mr Bentley’s locker was cut off so human resources staff could search inside.

No nuts were found, the court heard. His clothes were removed the following day and put into plastic bags.

Both Mr Bentley and the colleague he was spotted with were suspended while an investigation was carried out, she told the court.

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