A trainee police officer who used "vile" racist language at a Christmas work do will lose her job after a High Court judge ruled that dismissal was the only option.

Katie Barratt referred to staff at the Spice of Punjab restaurant in Newcastle city centre as "f****** n****** and P***s" at least five times during a drunken conversation while on a night out with fellow officers in December 2017.

The staff members did not hear her comments, which included her saying "I wish these P**** would hurry up with my pizza", but she was reported by a colleague.

Ms Barratt, who was 21 at the time of the incident and had been a special constable volunteer since she was 18, was dismissed from Northumbria Police by a disciplinary panel in June 2018.

PC Katie Barratt, of Northumbria Police

She was reinstated in March by the Police Appeals Tribunal (PAT), which concluded that although her actions amounted to gross misconduct, they could be addressed with a final written warning and equality and diversity training.

But, after the force challenged that ruling at the High Court in Leeds, a judge said she should be dismissed and overturned the PAT's decision.

In a written ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Freedman said: "In my judgment, the only reasonable decision on the facts of this case was dismissal. This was due to the words used.

"It was not a word used inappositely or just an odd word that just slipped out: it was a whole volley of expressions, and it contained vile, offensive and racist language."

The judge said Ms Barratt's personal mitigation and the consequences of her dismissal were "significant", as she appeared to have a "promising career" ahead of her.

However, he added: "In the end, it simply does not alter the stark reality which is that there was only one sanction for the particular findings of gross misconduct, namely dismissal.