A teacher is leaving behind a life of timetables and lesson plans for one of puns and punch lines.

Andy Thomas has swapped textbooks for sketches, after deciding to pursue a career as a comedian.

Teaching is a thing of the past for the former history teacher who now plans to give comedy his full attention.

Ironically, Mr Thomas, the former head of history at the Sir Robert Woodard Academy in Lancing, used his experiences of teaching to put together his show Crimes Against Humanities Teachers.

The 37-year-old, who lives in Hove, said: “I have always dabbled in comedy and was a stand-up in my early 20s. Since I moved back to Brighton in 1998 I have done a lot of amateur stuff.

“But this is the show which has been a break through.”