Radio host and TV presenter Chris Tarrant has apologised after being given a road ban for drink-driving.

The 71-year-old was over the limit while behind the wheel of his Mercedes on December 16 in Bucklebury, close to his home in Berkshire.

Tarrant, wearing a navy suit and striped tie, entered a guilty plea to the charge at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.

He was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £6,000.

The court heard Tarrant’s breathalyser reading was 50 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.

As he left court, Tarrant said: “I made a mistake and I paid for it. I shouldn’t have driven. Full stop.”

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter said he is “very sorry”, and that he drank “just enough to be over”, adding: “I honestly didn’t think I was over, but apparently I was, so fair enough.”

Asked if he thought the punishment was fair, he said: “Yes.”