Christian Bale arrested in London

Christian Bale, star of the latest Batman blockbuster, has been arrested in London on allegations of assault, British media reported on Tuesday.

The reports could not be independently confirmed but, when asked if Bale had been arrested, a police spokesman said:

"A 34-year-old man attended a central London police station this morning by appointment and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault. He currently remains in custody."

The wording is the usual tangential way that British police have of confirming an arrest of a well-known personality.

The arrest follows an allegation of assault by his mother and sister, the tabloid Sun newspaper said.

It came the day after Bale attended the first European screening in London of "The Dark Knight", the latest in the Batman franchise also starring the late Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Ledger died of a drugs overdose shortly after completing the filming of Dark Knight, which took record box office receipts on its opening weekend in the United States.

Bale was on the red carpet with co-stars Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal in central London's Leicester Square on Monday night.

A martial arts enthusiast and environmental campaigner, Bale has also appeared in Batman Begins, American Psycho and Empire Of The Sun.