FORMER Blackburn Rovers player James Beattie has been banned from driving for two and half years and fined £10,000 by his club for drink-driving.

Beattie, a former Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School pupil who now plays for Southampton, was found to have more than three times the legal limit when he was stopped by police and breathalysed.

Southampton Magistrates' Court heard that Beattie, 24, was stopped in his luxury BMW X5 in London Road, Southampton, in the early hours of September 4.

Beattie was also ordered to complete a 100 hours Community Punishment Order and pay £65 costs.

The court heard England left back and fellow Saints player Wayne Bridge was supposed to have driven Beattie's car as they had been out for the night.

But when the pair stopped for a takeaway Bridge went inside to order the food and Beattie decided to move the car to the opposite side of the road.

Peter Taylor, mitigating, said: "For reasons which are totally unclear and for which Mr Beattie cannot give any explanation, he drove the vehicle from one side of the road to a parking space on the other side.

"This was a journey of 20 yards which took no more than 20 seconds. It was a momentary lapse of impaired judgment."

Beattie was arrested as he climbed out of the 4x4 and admitted drinking.

A spokesman for Southampton Football Club confirmed that Beattie had been fined two weeks' wages by manager Gordon Strachan after admitting the offence.

Lancaster-born Beattie cost the Saints £1 million in 1998 and last season scored 12 goals for the club. Beattie joined Rovers as a trainee in 1995 when he was 17. He played one full game for the first team and came on three times as a sub before then manager Dave Jones took him to Southampton.

He was thrown straight into Southampton's battle to avoid relegation and won instant acclaim when Saints fans voted him their Player of the Year.

He later went on to win England Under 21 honours.