Three women who took photos of Derby County manager Wayne Rooney fast asleep in a hotel room have apologised to the star and handed him the copyright of the images for £1.

The ex-Manchester United star was pictured snoozing and fully clothed while sitting upright on a bedroom chair in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A spokesman for Rooney told the Mirror: “The three girls who took the photographs contacted Wayne's lawyers and volunteered to hand over all pictures that were taken that night and the copyrights in them.

“They have also, at their own suggestion, made a written apology to him for the events that took place and the embarrassment caused.

“These were three decent young women who went for a night out. They did not expect Wayne to end up in their company and are remorseful about how things turned out with the pictures.

“They got carried away and did something they later regretted. They did not expect it to end up in the mainstream media after it was posted on social media and they decided to take steps to put things right.

“It would be wrong to say no money changed hands because when a contract is drawn up there must be a sum and in this case it was a nominal £1.

“They have fulsomely apologised because they wanted to do what they saw as the right thing and draw a line under the matter."