FORMER tennis player Ilie “Nasty” Nastase was arrested twice in the space of six hours in his native Romania today, first on suspicion of driving a car while drunk and refusing to take a breathalyser test, and then for going through a red light on a scooter.

Nastase had a level of 0.55 mg of alcohol per litre, Bucharest chief police traffic officer Victor Gilceava said, an offence that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Police initially stopped the 71-year-old Nastase around 4.45am while he was driving. They said he was visibly drunk when they arrested him.

He was later released as police opened a criminal investigation against him for drunken driving and failing to take a breathalyser test.

Police stopped him again about six hours later after he allegedly went through a red light on a scooter. His driving licence had been suspended after the first incident.

Nastase admitted that he had drunk beer but claimed police had manhandled him and thrown him to the ground during his first arrest.

The second time he was apprehended, he was filmed mocking police officers and accusing them of acting like the communist-era militia.

He was fined 1,000 lei (£190) for being obstructive with police and his licence was suspended for three months.

Last year, Nastase was fined and banned for foul-mouthed comments and misconduct as Romania’s Fed Cup captain.

He had hurled abuse at British player Johanna Konta and the umpire during a Fed Cup match and made advances of a sexual nature toward Britain captain Anne Keothavong.

In a separate incident, he was also found guilty by the International Tennis Federation of making “racially insensitive” remarks about the possible skin colour of the then-unborn child of Serena Williams, who is married to white internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian.