AMAZON drivers celebrated a victory today after an employment tribunal refused an application by the internet giant to strike out claims by the workers to be classified as employees.

More than 2,000 “self-employed” staff, represented by law firm Leigh Day, are demanding rights given to directly employed workers, such as holiday pay, the national minimum wage and an employment contract. 

The US-owned online retail giant claims that drivers have “no possible course of action” against it as they work with “delivery service partners,” but Leigh Day accuses the mega-rich firm of “close control and monitoring of delivery processes.”

The company applied to the tribunal to strike out the claims, but after a two-day hearing last month, employment judges delivered a reserved judgement today.

A date for a later hearing, which will ultimately rule on the relationship between Amazon and drivers, has not yet been set.

The law firm’s Kate Robinson hailed the “huge success,” adding: “Amazon needs to give drivers the rights we believe they are entitled to.”

A company spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring drivers are fairly compensated by the delivery companies they work with.”