Players in custody after Christmas party

Three Celtic footballers were being held by police in Gateshead last night after the club's Christmas party ended in chaos involving bikini-clad waitresses, nightclub bouncers, a newspaper photographer and allegations of theft.

Joos Valgaeren, Johan Mjallby and Bobby Petta were arrested early Wednesday morning after a photographer from the Daily Record alleged they had stolen or damaged two cameras worth £12,000. A fourth player, Neil Lennon, was also arrested but was released without charge.

The incident began after photographers and a reporter from the Daily Record went to Newcastle on Tuesday after being tipped off that the Celtic and Rangers squads would be having a joint party in the city.

There is a history of sectarian antipathy between supporters of the two clubs and the party would, in the words of one newspaper executive, "be a great example to the fans".

Unfortunately, the joint party was scheduled for last night, and only the Celtic players were in Newcastle. After visiting a number of bars and pubs the players moved on to Buffalo Joe's, a theme bar on the quayside, where waitresses wear bikinis and patrons can ride a mechanical bull.

Around midnight a group of players emerged from the bar and there was an altercation with the bouncers. Paul Chappells, the Daily Record photographer who had been waiting outside, took pictures, at which point he alleges that some players chased and beat him and smashed his cameras.

The players then moved to another nightclub, the Sea, where they were arrested and one of Mr Chappells' two cameras was apparently recovered.

A spokesman for Northumbria police said:"After investigations on the quayside, a number of Celtic players were arrested for questioning and three remain in custody."

Celtic confirmed the players had been in Tyneside last night for a Christmas party. "It would be fair to say they were there in an effort to avoid attention," said a spokesman.

The planned joint party was cancelled after the incident. Celtic players left their hotel by a back door to avoid photographers early yesterday, and Rangers, who had been in Manchester on Tuesday night, switched the venue of their party to Liverpool.

Footballers caught offside

· A Christmas party organised for Chelsea players by Vinnie Jones at a west London pub featured dwarf hurling for entertainment.

· Last year Robbie Fowler and fellow Leeds United players attracted the attention of police when they were spotted in army fatigues, carrying fake guns, after the Christmas party. (This year's theme is cowboys and Indians.)

· Australian defender Hayden Foxe was fined two weeks' wages after relieving himself on the bar at the Sugar Reef club in London last year. He and his West Ham colleagues had run up a £2,000 bar tab.

· Former Leicester City player Dennis Wise was reported to have given team-mate Robbie Savage a teddy bear impaled on a vibrator at last year's Christmas bash.

· Chelsea's John Terry and Jody Morris were cleared of affray this year after an altercation with bouncers at the Wellington Club, in Knightsbridge, London, in January. On September 12, 2001, with three other Chelsea players, they got drunk at Heathrow airport and mocked Americans over the previous day's terrorist attacks.

· Leeds United players Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate were charged with assaulting a student, Sarfraz Najeib, outside the Majestyk nightclub in Leeds in 2001. Bowyer was cleared. Woodgate was found guilty of affray.