Sara Dhada last night became the ninth candidate on The Apprentice to be "fired" by Sir Alan Sugar.

The international car trader, from Leicester, ended up in the boardroom after a task that involved selling dresses to brides-to-be at a wedding fair.

Sir Alan criticised her sales technique and accused her of "alienating" customers before uttering his famous catchphrase, leaving her project manager Helene Speight and colleague Michael Sophocles to battle it out for another week.

Ms Dhada, 25, admitted later: "I find it really difficult to work in a team, with team-mates that you don't personally like and don't get along with. I cannot work with a project manager telling me what to do."

She was picked from thousands of candidates to be one of the final 16 in The Apprentice. At the time she said: "I was born into a business family, it's in my blood. I think I will win."

Ms Dhada, who trained as a lawyer, was fired after her team failed in their task to make the most profit from their wedding business. The winning team, led by Lucinda Ledgerwood, who lives in Edinburgh, made a profit of £5752.99 while Ms Dhada's team made only £1925.

Sir Alan told Ms Dhada: "You have a tendency of transmitting and not receiving. You talk, talk, talk but don't listen. If I had been one of those recipients of your sales pitch I would've got your head and pushed it in the bloody cake."

Seven candidates remain in the competition.