Morrissey behaving badly

Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey was arrested by US customs for being "rude and drunk" at Los Angeles airport.

The actor lost his temper at officials after finding himself in a long queue to complete immigration formalities, following a flight from London at the weekend.

Morrissey later admitted to having drunk excessive amounts of red wine in the first-class cabin on the 12-hour Virgin Atlantic trip.

The 41-year-old, who owns a flat in north London, was released without charge after being held for an hour and apologised for his behaviour. "I was a bit exuberant in the line and I did have something to declare - too much red wine," he said afterwards.

A customs source told the Daily Mirror: "He was unhappy at having to queue for so long in the airport. He was shouting and making it clear he didn't want to be queuing.

"The decision was taken to detain him until he calmed down a bit."

The Customs and Immigration Department in LA confirmed he had been held for around one hour following the flight on Saturday.

"He was questioned before being released into the United States," said a spokesman. Morrissey was thought to be visiting his girlfriend of six months, 33-year-old American lawyer Emma Killick. The couple met while he filmed in LA last year.

The actor, famous for playing layabout Tony in the TV sitcom Men Behaving Badly, won a huge family following after becoming the voice of Bob the Builder. Theme song Can We Fix It? was a Christmas No 1 in 2000.

Morrissey gained tabloid notoriety after a highly publicised affair with actress Amanda Holden while she was still married to TV presenter Les Dennis.

"That was very hard to deal with," he said recently.

"It was as if the term 'love rat' had been coined for me and no matter what I did, I was in the

wrong." It is thought Mor r i s s e y will now stay in the US until the end of May, before he returns to the UK to film new BBC sitcom Carrie and Barry.

Last week he pleased fans of Men Behaving Badly by saying he would consider a return to the series.

He was more recently seen in BBC drama Paradise Heights, while his debut Hollywood picture Triggermen, a mistakenidentity crime caper, struggled to make an impact last year.

Last week Morrissey bought Brown's Hotel in Laugharne, Dyfed, associated with poet Dylan Thomas.