A married music teacher who had sex with choir boys after buying them alcohol has been banned from the profession, as her former school faces questions over why she was not struck off sooner.

Laurie Softley, now 34, was let off with a warning after Ecclesbourne School in Derbyshire investigated her affair with a 17-year-old boy in 2008.

But another affair with a student five years later led to a police investigation and her resignation from the academy.

In May 2008, she contacted a 17-year-old, referred to only as Pupil A, on Facebook and arranged to meet up in a pub, then went back to her home where they had sex.

Four months later, Ms Softley was given a final written warning for gross misconduct by the school, and was allowed to continue teaching there.

In 2013, Ms Softley texted a second student, Pupil B, picked him up in her car and drove her home where they drank alcohol and engaged in sexual relations. Four years later, the boy, then 23, told a counsellor what had happened.

“Ms Softley initiated and engaged, on separate occasions, in sexual activity with both Pupil A and Pupil B,” a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found.