LOTS of people hope for a little sun, sea and sand while they're on holiday — but for a Torrington school it's not the teachers who are soaking up the rays, but one of their mugs.

And to add insult to injury, the mug is sending postcards from France detailing its holiday exploits.

When mugs began to disappear from Great Torrington School's English department, teacher Gill Clayton e-mailed colleagues asking for their return.

But one of the lost mugs has made its way to the continent.

A postcard postmarked La Chaume, landed on the teacher's desk last week

It said: "Hello you lot! Having a good time in France without you all.

"I will return with photos of my adventures. Your tea mug."

Since then the school has received holiday pictures from the mug enjoying French cuisine such as moules marinieres , garlic and cheese.

The wandering mug has also sent pictures of itself topless sunbathing and relaxing in front of French views.

The gallivanting mug is decorated in shoes and handbags and special to the department as it is one of a set of six that was given to them from a former pupil.

The department is trying to track down the roaming mug's travelling companion and have a suspect in mind.

Gill said: "To begin with, our suspicions lay with either the ICT or humanities departments — ICT because someone has a house in France or humanities because that is just the sort of thing they would do.

"So far we have not received a ransom note so we don't suspect kidnapping and we're not worried for the safety of the mug as it does appear happy and relaxed in the photos.

"The mug clearly had a restful and fulfilling holiday, but we do wonder if the mug will return from the holiday or if it has further travels on its mind."

The inspiration for the nomadic mug could have come from the French film Amélie.

In the film Amélie persuades her father to follow his dream of touring the world by stealing his garden gnome and sending pictures of it from all over the world.