Chris Tarrant has been fined £6,000 and banned from the roads for a year after admitting drink-driving after a lunchtime pub visit.

The television presenter, 71, got behind the wheel of his Mercedes on 16 December after drinking in the Bladebone Inn in Bucklebury, a mile and a half from his home in Berkshire.

He pleaded guilty to the charge at Reading magistrates court on Thursday morning. Sentencing him, the district judge, Shomon Khan, said drink-driving was serious and put others at serious risk.

The court heard that on the day he was caught, Tarrant had been at the Bladebone Inn from 12.30pm. He was served four drinks – brandy and port – although his counsel said they were not all drunk by Tarrant.

Hasrat Ali, prosecuting, said staff and others in the pub were concerned that Tarrant had decided to drive home after 2pm. “One member of the public had noticed that Mr Tarrant had stumbled near the bar area,” she said.

Police caught up with Tarrant at his home at 2.25pm, 13 minutes after being called. “Those that attended spoke to Mr Tarrant who commented that he had just drunk three glasses of wine on arrival at his home address,” Ali said. “He was asked to sign the pocket notebook to that effect but he refused.”

After a breathalyser test registered 50 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – above the 35mcg legal limit – Tarrant was taken to the police station for an interview. “He gave a different version of events in the sense that it wasn’t three glasses of wine that he had drunk, that in fact he had a large glass of brandy and a glass of wine,” Ali said.

In court, Tarrant spoke only to confirm his name and to say “guilty” when the clerk read the charge. Simon Ray, defending, said: “The most important mitigation I can give is an apology through me of taking the decision to drive on that day.”

After the hearing, Tarrant said he was “very sorry”. He said he had drunk “just enough to be over”, adding: “I honestly didn’t think I was over, but apparently I was, so fair enough. I made a mistake and I paid for it. I shouldn’t have driven. Full stop.”