Footballer Marlon King has been banned from driving after police clocked him doing 130mph on the M69 near Leicester.

Officers spotted King's Mercedes Benz pull away as it joined the motorway from the M1 junction at Fosse Park.

As the Mercedes accelerated, police decided to follow it, Hinckley magistrates heard yesterday.

At first they were obstructed by other vehicles but, by judging their own speed, calculated King drove at between 103mph and 130mph for four miles before they managed to stop him.

The Birmingham City striker, who takes home £10,000 a week, pleaded guilty to the offence by post earlier in the month.

Magistrates yesterday disqualified King from driving for 56 days, and fined him £1,600.

The bench was told the 31-year-old Jamaican international, who was not in court for the hearing, had previous convictions for speeding, including another 56-day ban.

Magistrates also heard he had two fixed penalty endorsements on his licence for speeding in a 30mph zone.

King's solicitor, Duncan Jefferson, told the hearing: "My client understands he will be disqualified and he wishes to apologise to the court."

Mr Jefferson said King's car was spotted by police joining the M69 at Junction 21 on the M1 shortly before 8.45am on Friday, August 5, last year.

He said King, who lives in Torksey, near Lincoln, was driving to work at Birmingham City at the time.

Mr Jefferson asked the magistrates to treat the speeds quoted with caution.

He said: "The police were obstructed by other vehicles and would have had to travel faster than my client to catch him."

Mr Jefferson added: "There were no aggravating circumstances. My client was not tailgating other vehicles or flashing his lights. He readily admitted the offence when he was stopped."

The court also ordered King to pay £60 costs and a standard £15 victims of crime surcharge.

The Mercury was unable to contact Birmingham City for a comment yesterday.