By Hugh Dunnett, Crime Correspondent
Football star Wayne Rooney has been charged with driving a VW Beetle, it has emerged.
The Everton and former England captain was stopped by police in Cheshire in the early hours of Thursday morning.
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It is an offence for a man to drive a VW Beetle, which are explicitly for women motorists.
Police stopped the car at 2am in Wilmslow when they suspected a male was behind the wheel.
A police spokesman said: “Officers stopped a black VW Beetle because they were sure they had seen the driver was a man.
“They discovered Wayne Rooney, 31, in the driving seat, and he has now been charged with driving a VW Beetle.”
The footballer had been on a night out with pals while his pregnant wife was away on holiday.
Rooney has been bailed to appear before Stockport Magistrates on September 18 – the day after Everton take on his former club, Manchester United.
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Men have been forbidden from driving VW Beetles for 20 years under the 1997 Driving Decency Act.
News of Rooney’s alleged offence comes just weeks after the Suffolk Gazette revealed a man had been spotted driving a Fiat 500.
A pal of the star said: “This will be so embarrassing for Wayne. Being allegedly caught driving a VW Beetle is a massive no no for any self-respecting man.
“He’ll have a lot of explaining to do when Coleen gets home.”