Pop legend Diana Ross has been arrested for an alleged drink-driving offence, US police say.

Police stopped the former Supremes star after a motorist called to report a swerving vehicle in the western state of Arizona, police sergeant Judy Altieri said.

It would be what is considered extreme DUI [driving under the influence] Judy Altieri Police spokeswoman

She said a breath test had indicated that Ms Ross had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in her system.

Ms Ross was booked and released before being escorted back to where she was staying.

She is due to appear in court on 13 January on three misdemeanour charges.

Earlier this year, she checked into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in California before the start of a summer tour.

'Extreme'

Police went to check a white car reported to be swerving in the roads in Tucson in the early hours of the morning.

When breathalysed, the driver - Ms Ross - had a blood-alcohol of 0.20, said Sergeant Altieri. The legal limit is 0.08.

"It would be what is considered extreme DUI [driving under the influence]," Sergeant Altieri said.

She said the star was "polite and cooperative".

In September 1999, Ms Ross was detained for about five hours in London over an alleged assault on a security guard at Heathrow Airport.

The woman guard complained that she had been assaulted as she attempted a body search on Ross after a metal detector was triggered.

The singer was released without charge.

In May, the former Supremes star voluntarily entered the Promises drug and rehabilitation centre in Malibu "to clear up some personal issues", according to her spokesman Paul Bloch.

Solo hits

Ross first found fame with the Supremes after neighbour Smokey Robinson arranged contact with legendary Motown Records.

The group scored hits with Where Did Our Love Go?, Stop in the Name of Love and My World Is Empty Without You before Ross found renewed fame as a solo artist in the 1970s.

Hits like Ain't No Mountain High Enough were followed by an 1980s revival with Chain Reaction.