The 22-year-old, currently on loan at Birmingham City, was warned last month he could be given a jail sentence after he admitted the charges following an incident in Aylesbury.

He was due to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Pennant was arrested in January after he was spotted in a car park in the town driving a Mercedes with a lamp post dragging beneath it.

Aylesbury Magistrates' Court heard last month that when Pennant was stopped his eyes were glazed and his speech slurred.

A breath test found he was almost two-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit, the court heard.

The former England Under-21 star had been banned from driving for 16 months in February last year after being seen travelling in the wrong lane in London.

Pennant pleaded guilty at last month's hearing to charges of drink driving, driving while disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.

Arsenal bought Pennant for two million pounds from Notts County in 1999, one of the highest amounts paid for a teenager at the time.

When Pennant made his Arsenal debut against Middlesbrough in a League Cup tie on 30 November 1999 he became Arsenal's youngest ever first team player at 16 years and 319 days.

He scored a hat-trick on his full Premiership debut for Arsenal against Southampton in May 2003 but failed to live up to his early promise and was loaned out to Leeds last season.