Commonwealth Game opening ceremony Tunnock's teacake dancer could lose job after bosses saw her on TV 'while she was off sick'

A volunteer who appeared at the Commonwealth Games 2014 opening ceremony may lose her job, after her bosses spotted her dancing with a giant Tunnock’s teacake while she signed off sick from work.

Amy McIntosh appeared in the first act of the opening ceremony in Glasgow, which showcased all things Scottish - from a giant haggis and Irn Bru soft drinks, to cabers and inventions like the television.

However, her employers claim that she did not ask management at the nursery where she works for the time off to attend rehearsals that started three weeks ago.

Staff members at the Woodland Day Nursery in the Scottish village of Houston, Renfrewshire, were shocked when they tuned in to watch the ceremony, and spotted the 25-year-old worker grasping a giant teacake above her head.

“Nobody could believe it when they saw her on TV, bold as brass,” a source at the nursery told the Sun.

The source added that Ms McIntosh would have been granted time off to take part in the opening ceremony if she had asked.

Friends commented on her Facebook page after her appearance, with one of them writing: “Looked like you were having so much fun”.

Ms McIntosh, from Erskine, told the newspaper that she had been signed off sick at the time of the ceremony with tonsillitis, and had been referred for hospital treatment.

A spokeswoman from the nursery confirmed to The Independent that Ms McIntosh was given a month off work to recover from her illness, and she has not yet returned. She was not able to confirm reports that staff will have a meeting with McIntosh to discuss her future at the nursery.

“We are following proper procedures,” she said, adding “we were very surprised to see her when we thought she was off sick”.