Hewitt returns to arrest bar

Nothing - not even a night in the cells after his arrest on suspicion of possessing cocaine - stops James Hewitt from doing what he does best: hanging around bars with a drink in his hand.

Only 24 hours after being handcuffed and taken to a London police station, he was back in the same bar ordering cold beers.

The shamed former cavalry officer said: "It's not going to stop me coming out and having a good time."

Princess Diana's 46-year-old former lover was unabashed as he strolled back into the Cactus Blue bar in the Fulham Road a few hours after being released on bail.

He was seized by officers outside the nightspot along with his girlfriend, radio and TV presenter Alison Bell, 37, following an alleged tip-off from a fellow patron.

Both were held overnight at Notting Hill police station - Hewitt for allegedly possessing a Class A drug, and Bell for allegedly supplying the substance.

Mr Hewitt returned to the hangout with a male friend at about nine last night, chatting to bar staff and ordering two bottles of beer. "It's just one of those things that you have to deal with," he said. "I'm not going to lie low."

The red-headed "love rat" is believed to have returned to the bar, around the corner from his Chelsea home, to collect something left at a table on Wednesday night.

But his apparent self-confidence was in stark contrast to the night before, when he was described as "shaking like a leaf ". Dennis Gill, a freelance photographer, said Mr Hewitt was "in a terrible state" when he was read his rights.

He added that Mr Hewitt was "on the verge of crying while the police were searching him".

Another source claimed the former Army major had been "rolling drunk". The witness said: "He was out of it, almost on the floor."

But asked about his behaviour, a spokesman for Cactus Blue said: "There were no reports that he was abusive at all."

Manager Rob Spicer, reading from a prepared statement, said Mr Hewitt had been arrested "after entertaining at a table outside or at the front" of the restaurant. "Cactus Blue adheres to a strict zero tolerance policy on drug-taking on our premises," he stressed.

Along with Ms Bell, a former girlfriend of Prince Edward, Mr Hewitt was bailed until September. If convicted of possession of a Class A drug, he could face up to seven years jail.

Yorkshire-born Ms Bell, 37, was arrested on suspicion of supplying the substance, which carries a maximum jail sentence of life.

Though vilified for selling the secrets of his affair with Diana, he has since embraced his public persona as a "cad" and pantomime villain - and won the recent Channel 5 series Back To Reality.

He is currently writing a book about his life.

Hewitt met Miss Bell on LBC radio and romanced her with flowers and dinner at London restaurant Daphne's.