A teacher was arrested on suspicion of drink driving – after her own colleagues shopped her into police.

Design and technology teacher Julia Roberts, 49, was more than three times the drink drive limit when police came to arrest her at the school on February 10, 2020.

Tests showed she had 253mcgs of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mcgs.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Saturday morning, Roberts, of Fernham Gate, Faringdon, pleaded guilty to driving her 69-plate Honda Jazz while over the alcohol limit.

But magistrates adjourned the case until January 4 for the probation service to compile a pre-sentence report on Roberts. Chairman of the bench Alison Auvray told Roberts: “We need to know a little but more about you and it’s really difficult to do that on a Saturday.”

The former teacher at Kingsdown School in Swindon was given an interim driving ban.

Emma Leigh-Bennett, headteacher at Kingsdown School, said: “The school takes the responsibility of both safeguarding students and the welfare of staff incredibly seriously.

“We took immediate and discrete control of the situation to ensure all concerned were safe, swift due process then followed.

“I can confirm that Mrs Roberts no longer works for the school.”