Gloucester's chairman Tom Walkinshaw was delighted with the signing and added: "Nigel and myself met with Mike and we spoke about his hopes and ambitions and our plans for the Club, and he wanted to be part of that. This is a major signing for the Club as Mike is a world-class centre."

The World Cup winning centre is unavailable for Bath's forthcoming fixtures against Gloucester in the Zurich Premiership (19 Feb) and in the Powergen Cup semi-final (6 March), after undergoing surgery on his foot.

Tindall underwent an operation on Wednesday on a stress fracture in his right foot, and the medical experts were pleased with the results.

Tindall said: "It was a very difficult decision to make as I've had eight years at Bath.

Tindall has played at Kingsholm with Bath on a number of occasions and is looking forward to becoming part of the Gloucester set-up.

"Kingsholm is a great place to play rugby. The crowd are very vocal and they put a lot of pressure on the opposition, making it even more difficult to win there. It'll be good to be on the other side of that wearing the Gloucester shirt."

Tindall and his family have known Gloucester director of rugby Nigel Melville for a long time having both had connections with the Otley club.

"I've known Nigel for a number of years and it made it a little easier when we first started speaking about me joining Gloucester.

"This move was a very difficult decision to make. On one hand I've got a lot of friends from my eight years at Bath and on the other hand I'm delighted with the chance to play for Gloucester."