England and Gloucester rugby star Mike Tindall was banned from getting behind the wheel for three years today after pleading guilty to drink driving.

Tindall, the long-term boyfriend of Zara Phillips, admitted being over the legal limit after he was pulled over by police on the M4 near Newbury, Berkshire, on March 15 last year.

He had spent the previous day at the Cheltenham Races with Zara and a group of friends and had drunk beer, spirits and seven glasses of champagne.

The following morning the Gloucester Rugby player set off for Twickenham where he was due to commentate on England's Six Nations game with Ireland.

Tindall, 30, who won the World Cup with England in 2003, would have been playing but had bruised his liver in a game with Wales on February 2 last year.

As well as the ban Tindall, of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, was also ordered to pay a £500 fine and £75 costs when he appeared before Reading Magistrates' Court.

The court heard that police were patrolling the motorway when their attention was drawn to a Range Rover Sport which appeared to be exceeding the 70mph speed limit.

He was arrested and taken to Newbury police station, where he gave a blood test which recorded a level of 91mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Victoria Griffiths, prosecuting, said the officers began following at a safe distance and watched the vehicle being driven "erratically".

It then swerved across all three lanes into Reading Service Station, she added.

She said: "The officers decided to speak to the driver about the manner of his driving.

"When speaking to Mr Tindall they could smell alcohol on his breath. He confirmed he had drunk alcohol the day before but not that day."

The court was told Tindall had drunk a Budweiser, a bottle of Becks and a Carling followed by seven glasses of champagne in the evening. He later went to a restaurant where he drank a further beer and a vodka and Red Bull, finishing drinking at around midnight.

The court heard Tindall had a previous conviction for drink driving in 2000, for which he was disqualified for 16 months.

Due to his liver injury Tindall's legal team had sought to produce expert medical evidence regarding the effect of the injury on his liver function but yesterday his barrister Marcus Milliken-Smith said no "special reasons" were to be put before the court.

But said: "He drove that day not knowing he had a low alcohol elimination rate and secondly, if he had a normal rate, he would have been well under the limit.

"That is why he finds it difficult to accept that in this particular case he had driven without proper responsibility.

"That position has changed because this alcohol elimination rate is particularly low and he will have to temper his life in future."

Mr Milliken-Smith told the court that when Tindall gave the positive breath-test he could not believe he was over the limit and was shocked and embarrassed.

He added: "That remains the position, he is extremely embarrassed to be before the court. It is a chastening experience to have several hearings before this court."

The driving ban would inconvenience and cost Tindall, said Mr Milliken-Smith, who added that he needed to make a 60-mile round trip five or six days a week in his rugby role.

Tindall, who will undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course as part of his punishment, smiled as he left the court but refused to comment to waiting reporters.