Christian Bale, the actor who plays Batman, was arrested today for allegedly assaulting his own mother and sister before last night’s premiere of The Dark Knight.

The Welsh-born actor was questioned at a central London police station today over the incident which is thought to have taken place in his Dorchester Hotel suite on Sunday night.

Bale’s mother and sister, Jenny, 61, and Sharon, 40, made a formal complaint against the Hollywood actor yesterday.

The two women, who live in Dorset, went to a Hampshire police station to make their allegations. The complaint was then passed to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “A 34-year-old man attended a Central London police station this morning and was arrested in connection with an allegation of assault.”

Bale is alleged to have lashed out in the Park Lane hotel two days ago but police allowed him to attend the European premiere of the latest instalment of the Batman films in Leicester Square last night.

The actor, who also starred in American Psycho and Empire Of The Sun, joined co-stars Sir Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart on the red carpet.

This morning he voluntarily attended Belgravia police station, where he was arrested and questioned for four hours before he was released on bail.

The new Batman film, which contains the final complete performance by Heath Ledger, has already attracted huge interest after glowing reviews and a record opening weekend in the US . The 28-year-old Australian actor gave an Oscar-tipped performance as The Joker before he died from an accidental drugs overdose in January.

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