According to reports in the Swedish daily Expressen, Ms Faltskog filed an official complaint against the man last week, saying she feared for her life after being stalked for three years.

Agnetha: Feared for her life

The man was detained two days later.

The man had reportedly become smitten by the singer when he was eight years old and had left his native Netherlands to buy a house near where Ms Faltskog's country estate at Ekero near Stockholm.

According to Expressen, she told police that the stalker had sent her some 300 letters between 1997 and 1999, telephoned her up to three times a day and followed her wherever she went.

Comeback

Ms Faltskog, who will be 50 on Wednesday, is divorced from fellow Abba star Bjorn Ulvaeus, with whom she had two children, Linda, aged 27, and Christian, aged 22.

For the past decade, she has lived a reclusive life, practising yoga and astrology, horseriding and exercising on foot.

She is reportedly preparing a comeback, with a new album due for release later this year.

Her last recording was her solo album I Stand Alone in 1987.

Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lynstad soared to fame in 1974 when they won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo.

The group quickly became Sweden's most famous, and most lucrative, cultural export with a string of hits including Money Money Money, Dancing Queen and The Winner Takes It All.

Since the band split, Benny and Bjorn have remained a team, writing musicals including Chess and producing records, while Anni-Frid has also carved out a solo career.

The group last performed together in 1982.