British broadcaster Sky News has taken one of its leading news anchors off the air for six months after she threw a birthday party that violated coronavirus restrictions.

The channel said Thursday that Kay Burley had agreed to be off air for six months �as a result of an internal review.� Sky News said it �takes breaches like this very seriously indeed.�

Burley threw a 60th birthday bash at a London restaurant on Saturday. Under current restrictions in the British capital, people from different households can�t meet indoors.

Two reporters who attended the gathering, political editor Beth Rigby and correspondent Inzaman Rashid, will be off-air for three months, Sky News said.

Burley, who has been a presenter on Sky News since the channel�s debut in 1989, said she had agreed �to step back from my broadcasting role for a period of reflection.

�It�s clear to me that we are all in the fight against COVID-19 and that we all have a duty to stick firmly by the rules,� she said in a statement. �It doesn�t matter that I thought I was COVID-compliant on a recent social event. The fact is I was wrong, I made a big mistake, and I am sorry.�

(AP)