The six former staff members of the Highway Retail Ltd-run filling station in Ballyvolane have said they are "delighted" to know that they will spend Christmas at home, having ended their 15-day sit-in.

Cork City Council has backed the Highway 6 workers engaged in a filling station sit-in and accused their former employer of treating them appallingly.

The staff sit-in at a Cork filling station is set to continue into a second week despite claims from its former operator that the business has been taken over and the jobs are safe.

The ‘Highway 6’ have defied a stark legal warning to end their sit-in and vowed last night to continue their protest.

Scores of well-wishers have been visiting a petrol station in Cork to show solidarity with members of staff who have mounted a sit-in to get their outstanding wages, sick pay, and other entitlements.