Woody Harrelson, star of Natural Born Killers and TV comedy Cheers, has been arrested in London after an alleged incident in a taxi.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrest of a 40-year old man early on Thursday morning in Sloane Square, west London.

"Police were called to reports of a man having allegedly caused criminal damage to a black taxi in the Waterloo Place area, and then fleeing the vehicle," a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

The call to police was made at approximately 02.10 on Thursday morning.

"Shortly afterwards a 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage," said the spokesman.

A man was said to have smashed a door lock and an ashtray in the back of the cab before jumping out, according to the Sun newspaper.

Bailed

He then hailed another taxi and fled on foot when the vehicle was subsequently stopped by police, said the report.

The Scotland Yard spokesman said that the arrested man was taken to a central London police station and bailed to return on 1 July, pending a report to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The spokesman confirmed that the man was alleged to have damaged the door lock mechanism and an ashtray.

Woody Harrelson was born in Texas in July 1961, and began his TV career in 1982, in the long-running comedy Cheers.

He played lead in the 1992 comedy White Men Can't Jump and also starred in Oliver Stone's controversial crime drama Natural Born Killers two years later.

His most recent film, the comedy Scorched, was shown at the Cannes film festival.