By Neal Wallace

Mike Tindall has been dropped from England's Rugby Union team and fined £25,000 for his conduct during the Rugby World Cup.

The former England captain's actions were deemed unacceptable by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), causing the organisation to hand out what the Guardian describes as an "unprecedented" punishment.

James Haskell and Chris Ashton have also been reprimanded for their behaviour, each receiving suspended fines of £5,000 and warnings about their future conduct following an alleged incident at a hotel in Dunedin, New Zealand. The two players, along with Dylan Hartley, were cleared of sexually harassing a hotel worker.

An investigation carried out by Rob Andrew, the professional rugby director, and the legal governance director, Kerena Vleck, found that "the incident is precisely the kind of dangerous, compromising situation the players were warned about".

England coach Martin Johnson had reprimanded the three players while on tour for the allegations made against them.