WAYNE Rooney's arrest for public intoxication was as a result of feeling "disorientated" after taking sleeping tablets on a flight while drinking, his spokesman has said.

The former Manchester United and England star, 33, who now plays for American team DC United, was taken into custody on December 16 in Virginia, US officials yesterday revealed.

He was charged and paid a $25 fine and $91 costs on January 4, according to public documents from Loudoun General District Court.

In a statement, his spokesman said: "During the flight Wayne took a prescribed amount of sleeping tablets mixed with some alcohol consumption and consequently was disorientated on arrival.

"He was approached by police who arrested him on a minor misdemeanour charge.

"He received a statutory automatic fine and was released shortly afterwards at the airport. The matter is now at an end.

"Wayne would like to put on record his appreciation for the manner he was treated by all involved."

A spokesman for Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said: “He was booked into the Loudoun County Adult Detention Centre on December 16, 2018, on a charge of public intoxication stemming from an arrest by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police (MWAA).

“He was later released on a personal recognizance bond.”

Rooney, in September 2017, admitted drink-driving on a night out when he was caught driving a woman's Volkswagen Beetle when nearly three times the legal limit.

He was banned from driving for two years and ordered to carry out unpaid work in the community.