Television star Chris Tarrant has been fined £6,000 after he pleaded guilty to drink-driving as he appeared in court this morning.
The 71-year-old is banned from driving for 12 months at Reading Magistrates’ Court after he was breathalysed following a pub lunch at the Bladebone Inn in Bucklebury, Berkshire, in November.
He was caught driving a Mercedes car with 50 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath.
The pub is just 1.5 miles away from Mr Tarrant’s home, roughly a four-minute drive.
The former Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? presenter previously hit back at the allegation by saying he was ‘entirely sober’ before he arrived home from an afternoon at the pub.
Chris Tarrant is pictured leaving court after he admitted drink-driving from the pub to his home 1.5 miles away
Chris Tarrant was seen arriving at Reading Magistrates’ Court this morning to face the drink-driving charge with girlfriend Julie Bird
The presenter was stopped after leaving this pub in Berkshire but claimed he was completely sober
The former Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? presenter has previously claimed that he was sober when he was stopped
He had spent an hour-and-a-half in the pub, drinking four brandy and ports before getting behind the wheel.
The District Judge was told that concerned staff at the pub and other members of the public felt Tarrant had drunk too much to drive and saw him stumbling at the bar then discussed what they should do. Police arrived at his home 13 minutes later.
Hasrat Ali, prosecuting, told the court that Tarrant told officers he had drunk three large glasses of wine after he arrived home.
She said: ‘On December 16 Mr Tarrant has been drinking at the Bladebone Public House in Chapel Row, near Bucklebury, Reading, from 12.30pm onwards where he was served four brandy and ports at the bar. He left at 2pm.
‘Staff and other members of the public within the public house were concerned he had made the decision to drive home. One member of the public had noticed Mr Tarrant had stumbled near the bar area.
‘Police attended his home at 2.25pm, 13 minutes after being called.
Tarrant admitted drink-driving after initially lying to the police and telling them he was sober
‘Those that attended spoke to Mr Tarrant who commented that he had just drunk three glasses of wine on arrival at his home address. He was asked to sign the pocket notebook to that affect but he refused.
‘When he was interviewed by officers he gave a different version of events, stating he had drunk one brandy and one glass of wine at home.’
But in December he claimed he was at home for ‘some time’ and drank wine and brandy before police arrived.
Police were tipped off about his drink driving by a neighbour who is said to have been unhappy about Tarrant’s plans to extend his £2million home.
The star had already extended his seven-bed mansion three times after he bought it in 2004 for £1million.
An application to build a two-storey extension with two beds on the top floor and a utility room and snug on the ground floor was rejected by councillors but overturned on appeal.
Neighbours in Bucklebury, which is the Duchess of Cambridge’s home village, objected because the house is in a beauty spot.
A photograph of the property showing the area at the front of the house that is due to be developed
And council chiefs said Tarrant had already extended the property as far as planning guidelines allow. But a successful appeal last year allowed the plans to go ahead.
The bedrooms will both be ensuite and measure 11ft by 8ft and 9ft by 8ft respectively. On the ground floor, the snug will be 14ft by 11ft and the utility room 10ft by 11ft.
Tarrant’s neighbours were traditionally tight-lipped about whether one of them gave a tip-off to the police which led to the star’s arrest.
Villagers in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire – well versed in the ways of the media after years of fielding questions about the Duchess of Cambridge and the Middleton family – said it was ‘highly unlikely’ anyone would have alerted a police patrol to the fact Tarrant was leaving the local Bladebone public house after drinking there.
The bedrooms, shown in this first floor plan at a scale of 1 to 100, will both be ensuite and measure 11ft by 8ft and 9ft by 8ft respectively
However, one local gave reporters a ‘knowing look’ when asked if he knew who might have reported the 71-year-old, adding that he did not want to be named or to make any comment.
Police said that there was no indication that officers had made the 2pm arrest following a tip-off from the public, indicating that police had routinely stopped the vehicle.
Local residents said that he was popular and had not caused enough upset for anyone to have tried to take revenge on him by making a call to the police.
Tarrant moved into the village in 2012, after buying the home near Middleton Manor, and has since extended the building three times.
Helen Pratt, is clerk to Bucklebury parish council, who led the neighbourhood campaign against Tarrant’s extension.
She told MailOnline: ‘It’s not so much the neighbours who were unhappy as much as it’s overdeveloping properties which were built as cottages on the common.
‘He’s already extended quite extensively, and that was the view essentially at the time. I wouldn’t say it’s caused anger.’
Mrs Pratt denied the likelihood of a police tip-off being because of anger caused by the redevelopment, adding: ‘I would say it’s highly unlikely that a neighbour would tip the police that he was allegedly drunk-driving.
‘There are issues with motorists around here so it’s not unusual to try to do something about it. That’s generic across the board.’
It is not suggested that she was the neighbour responsible for the reported tip-off.
Today Tarrant was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 pounds and a victim surcharge of £170 pounds.
Simon Ray, defending, said Tarrant had stumbled because of an ongoing medical issue with his knee.
He said: ‘The most important mitigation I can give is an apology through me of taking the decision to drive on that day.’