George Michael today took his drugs arrest on the chin, saying it was his "own stupid fault, as usual".

The former Wham! star was arrested at Hyde Park Corner in London early yesterday morning, slumped at the wheel of a car parked at what one witness described as a "crazy angle".

Officers arrested after finding Class C drugs in the car, before bailing him to return to a police station next month.

In a statement released this evening, the 42-year-old singer accepted that he had brought his latest brush with the law entirely upon himself. He also pledged not to immortalise the incident in song "even though it is tempting".

The singer was philosophical about the media attention the arrest would bring. He said: "I have been through enough in 24 years of dealing with the media to know what I am in for from them this week.

"Much of it will be inaccurate or simply untrue. I can handle that, it is my own stupid fault, as usual. I was in possession of class C drugs which is an offence and I have no complaints about the police who were professional throughout."

Michael was initially arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive but after being taken to a police station and examined by a doctor he was de-arrested on this charge.

In his statement, he said: "The only thing I care about is that people know that I was properly tested by the police doctor on Saturday night, who stated to the officers present that I was not impaired in any way and should be allowed to drive home.

"In fact, the only reason I didn’t drive home was that the police accidentally immobilised my car when they parked it. The duty solicitor very kindly gave me a lift home."

In a tongue-in-cheek postscript, the star appeared to refer to a previous arrest, when in 1998 he was detained for lewd conduct in a public toilet in Los Angeles after being spotted by an undercover police officer.

The incident led him to reveal he was gay, ending years of mystery about his sexuality, and featured in a video for his hit, Outside. His statement added: "PS I promise I won’t make a record out of this one - even though it is tempting."

The Sun reported that the singer was booked by police under his real name, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. The substances seized by officers are suspected to be cannabis and GHB, a drug also known as liquid ecstasy which is popular with clubbers.

As half of the pop group Wham! with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley, Michael had a series of decade-defining hits in the 1980s, with songs like Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom and I’m Your Man. In 1988, he released Faith, his first solo album, to acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.

A protracted legal tussle with his record label, Sony, prevented Michael from making music for much of the 1990s, an argument that was resolved when Virgin and Steven Spielberg’s production company, Dreamworks, paid Sony $40 million to release him from his deal.

Michael, who has sold 85 million records, was arrested in Los Angeles for exposing himself to an undercover police officer in a public toilet in 1998. The arrest prompted him to say he was gay, ending years of speculation about his sexuality.

After the release of his last album, Patience, in 2004, Michael said he would not sell any new music he recorded, but give it away over the internet.

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The super cool Vampire Weekend
• Streep and Baldwin get complicated
• Guy Ritchie on Sherlock Holmes