She famously grills politicians on behalf of her viewers and holds them to account if they appear to have behaved incorrectly.

And so there were doubtless a few smirks in and around Westminster today as it was revealed Sky News presenter Kay Burley had been caught apparently flouting Tier 2 rules on a night out in London to celebrate her 60th birthday.

She did not appear on air to host her TV show this morning and was replaced by presenter Sarah Hewson on her normal 7am to 10am slot after Sky announced they had launched an internal investigation.  

Writing on Twitter, Burley said: "I want to apologise to you all for an error of judgment.

“On Saturday night I was enjoying my 60th birthday at a Covid compliant restaurant. I am embarrassed to say that later in the evening I inadvertently broke the rules.

"I had been waiting for a taxi at 11pm to get home. Desperate for the loo I briefly popped into another restaurant to spend a penny. I can only apologise."

Political website Guido Fawkes reported a 'group of ten' including Sky's political reporter Beth Rigby, Inzamam Rashid and Sam Washington celebrated Ms Burley's 60th at private members' club Century Club in Soho.   

A spokesperson for Sky said: 'We place the highest importance on complying with the government guidelines on COVID, and we expect all our people to comply.

"We were disappointed to learn that a small number of Sky News staff may have engaged in activity that breached the guidelines.

"Although this took place at a social event in personal time, we expect all our people to follow the rules that are in place for everyone.

“An internal process is underway to review the conduct of the people involved.”