Wayne Rooney has been spotted working off the community service sentence he received for drink-driving on a night out, according to reports.
The multimillionaire former England and Manchester United captain is said to have been making amends at a community garden centre near his Cheshire home.
Rooney, who earns £150,000-a-week playing for Everton, was ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work after admitting being nearly three times the legal limit while at the wheel of a woman’s car.
The footballer, who was banned from driving for two years, was chauffeured to a shift at the centre where he has been given routine maintenance tasks, the Daily Mirror reports.
Wearing a blue jacket and hoodie, matching blue bottoms and black Nike trainers, he arrived at around 8.40am on Friday and left at shortly after 3pm that afternoon.
The centre is said to provide services for adults with learning difficulties who learn new skills, including pottery and woodwork, and can sell their wares to the public. It is reportedly the same centre where former United team mate Carlos Tevez was ordered to carry community service for driving offences in 2013.
With the Premier League currently on an international break, it is thought Rooney is hoping to complete as much of his sentence as possible before Everton’s next game on October 15.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to drink driving at Stockport Magistrates’ Court last month following an incident in the early hours of September 1.
Recently retired from international duty, Rooney had reportedly left a cocktail bar in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in a taxi with lettings agent Laura Simpson, 29, and later went on to take the wheel of her vehicle.
Police on mobile patrol stopped Rooney in Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, at 2.10am – with Ms Simpson in the front passenger seat – after they noticed a rear tail-light out.
After failing a roadside breath test the footballer was taken to a local police station where he produced a reading of 104 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit in England and Wales being 35 microgrammes.
After hearing that Rooney was likely to be fined two weeks’ wages by Everton judge John Temperley said he was “not convinced” that a large financial penalty from the court would have the “same punitive effect” as a community order.
The footballer later apologised for his “unforgivable lack of judgment” in driving while over the legal limit and said his actions were “completely wrong”.
“Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service,” Rooney said.