A former Raith Rovers player turned police officer has been sacked after testing positive for cocaine while on duty.

Julian Broddle, who played for several clubs in Scotland and England, became a police officer after 16 years as a professional footballer.

The 52-year-old, who worked for South Yorkshire Police, provided a urine sample as part of a random drug test after attending its professional standards department on March 19.

He tested positive for the Class A drug cocaine and faced a misconduct hearing this week before his dismissal without notice was confirmed.

Detective superintendent Dave Barraclough, head of the force's professional standards department, said Broddle had "discredited" himself and his employers.

He added: "The public quite rightly expect and deserve much better from the officers that protect and serve them.

"We are absolutely committed to tackling misconduct and addressing poor standards that fall below what is expected, which is why we chose to have special case hearings in these cases.

"These hearings can be applied for when it is in the public interest for the police officer concerned to cease to be an officer without delay - we don't want individuals like this working for our force and I'm sure you, our public, don't either."

Mr Broddle started his football career in England with Sheffield United in the 1981-82 season and went on to make 73 appearances for Raith Rovers from 1993 to 1996.

He was part of the side who defeated Celtic in the 1994 Scottish League Cup final.

The former left back also featured for St Mirren, Partick Thistle, East Fife and Ross County before retiring from the game in 1997.

He previously served for Greater Manchester Police and received awards for bravery.