Kasabian have revealed they asked lead singer Tom Meighan to leave the band after learning of his domestic assault charge.

The 39 year-old appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife Vikki Ager while drunk on April 9.

The district judge, Nick Watson, told the singer: "I could have sent you to prison" but instead gave him an 18-month community order and told him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Following the hearing, the band said they felt it the appropriate time to explain why Meighan had left the group.

In a statement on social media, they said: "Now that the legal proceedings have been concluded, we can comment on the departure of Tom Meighan from Kasabian.

"No one in the band wanted this to happen. We have all worked so hard for the past 23 years and had big plans for our future together. We're completely heartbroken.

"But we were left with no choice but to ask Tom to leave the band. There is absolutely no way we can condone his assault conviction. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is totally unacceptable.

"As soon as we found out about the charges made against Tom, we as a band made the decision that we could no longer work with him. Unfortunately we had to hold back this information until he was found guilty in court.

"We were led to believe that Tom would hold his hands up and in his statement tell everyone what he'd done, but he chose not to, misleading a lot of fans.

"Ultimately, as much as Tom has hurt us all, we're not the victim in all of this. Domestic violence is something that can never be excused.

"Thank you for your support at this difficult time. See you all soon, Kasabian x."

Meighan was a founding member of the band that would go on to become Kasabian back in 1997.

The British group have released six albums and had huge success with songs such as Club Foot, Fire and Underdog.