THE partner of a pub boss who was killed in a car crash has been warned he is facing jail after admitting being over the drink drive limit.

Paul Holmes was also driving without due care and attention when the Porsche Boxster they were in crashed with a lorry.

Emma Burton, 34, the landlady of The Somerford Arms, was killed when the car she was a passenger in was involved in a smash on Friday July 17.

Now her 51-year-old partner has pleaded guilty to causing her death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit, when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court.

Holmes, who gave the court the address of the Little Somerford pub, had 113mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood at the time of the crash: the legal limit is 80mg.

He was behind the wheel of the German sports car when it was involved in a collision with a lorry on the A4 between Box and Bath.

Judge Tim Mousley QC adjourned the case to Thursday February 4 to give the probation service time to compile a pre-sentence report.

He said "You have pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, which is plainly in your interest.

"Obviously this is a serious matter and an immediate custodial sentence is in the forefront of my mind so you must know all sentencing options are open to the judge who sentences you."

The judge also imposed an interim disqualification to keep Holmes off the road until he is sentenced.

He faces a mandatory two year ban with an extended test at the end of it and the maximum jail term for the offence is 14 years.

After the crash, police said two Porsches had been travelling along the A4 from Bathford towards Box.

As one of the cars negotiated the S-bend at the Box Bridge, just after 7.30pm, it was in collision with a lorry coming in the opposite direction.

The passenger of the Porsche was died at the scene and the driver was taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath with suspected broken ribs and a head injury.

The A4 Bath Road was closed from Box to the junction with the B363 at Bathford for seven hours.

Miss Burton took over the Somerford Arms, formerly known as the Saladin Inn, with Holmes in 2012.

The pub, near Chippenham, was bought by a group of five villagers to stop it being turned into a house.

Miss Burton had previously been the landlord of the Priory Inn, Tetbury, and Holmes was a chef in London before they took over the pub.