Deputy head teacher Theresa Mackey has some explaining to do to Brighton and Hove Council.

She pleaded guilty at Brighton Magistrates Court to being drunk in charge of a child on the Palace Pier.

Mrs Mackey has a highly responsible job at Downs Park Special School in Portslade which involves teaching many children in great need of constant care and attention.

Parents will be concerned to learn that she fell over on the pier while with her own children and experienced police officers believed she was drunk.

Mrs Mackey has been suspended and it's hard to see how the council can reinstate her after this case.

Her excuse that it was caused by a well-known cold remedy is hard to swallow - unlike the half bottle of gin she told police she drank just the day before.