England captain Dylan Hartley has been handed a six-week ban for striking Sean O'Brien during Northampton Saints' Champions Cup loss to Leinster last Friday.

The 30-year-old was shown the third red card of his career just six minutes after coming on against Leinster as he caught the Irishman with a swinging arm to the face.

Hartley remains available for next February's Six Nations opener against France as England look to defend their 2016 title.

The hooker pleaded guilty to the charge at an independent disciplinary hearing in London on Wednesday and will be able to play again from 23 January.

Due to Hartley's poor disciplinary record, the decision was made to add an extra week to the original five-week suspension.

Dylan Hartley is one of the leading contenders to captain the Lions tour of New Zealand (Getty)

"In upholding the red card decision, the Committee found that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby's sanctions and selected five weeks as the appropriate entry point," the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said.

"Taking into account Hartley's poor disciplinary record, the Committee added two weeks to the sanction and then reduced the sanction by one week due to the player's guilty plea before imposing a suspension of six weeks."

Hartley has now been suspended for a total of 60 weeks throughout his time as professional rugby player.

Despite the player's latest disciplinary infraction, the Rugby Football Union stated that the hooker had the full backing of Twickenham and head coach Eddie Jones.

"I think Dylan's got credit in the bank," RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said.

"I think most people would say it's been a fantastic year. We've had 13 wins out of 13 and Dylan has made a huge contribution and he should be allowed to continue that.

England enjoyed a stellar year of rugby with Hartley as the side's captain (Getty)

"Dylan has clearly played a fantastic part in captaining the team, on and off the pitch just to be clear. His leadership credentials are very strong. He's made a huge contribution.

"So you view all these things in perspective and in perspective one looks at the totality of what he's done and what's happened over the years. I think we should be supportive of that."

Hartley missed the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia in 2013 due to suspension and was omitted from the England squad for last year's World Cup because of a ban for head-butting.

After being restored to the side and selected as captain under Jones, the New Zealand-born player went on to lead the national side to a historic year of international success.