Anahid Kassabian, a former music professor at the University of Liverpool, said she felt like she was treated as a "burden" and "bullied out" of her 10-year job after being diagnosed with cancer.

She has broken her NDA in the hope that others who have been through similar experiences will speak out.

Non-disclosure agreements were designed to stop staff sharing trade secrets if they changed jobs, but now lawyers say they are being misused and ministers say they want to tighten the rules.