Soccer star is arrested

A soccer star has been arrested over an alleged feud.

West Ham defender Tomas Repka, 30, was questioned over allegations that he was harassing a 46-year-old man.

Police sources said the matter was being "treated very seriously".

Repka, a former Czech international who is married with two children, has cultivated a hard man image on the pitch since joining West Ham for £5.5 million.

He has had to be pulled away from spectators during matches, argued with team-mates and once had an eyebulging" confrontation with Italian referee Pierluigi Collina.

The £20,000-a-week player was held after walking into a police station with his solicitor.

Scotland Yard would only confirm that a man had been questioned in relation to allegation concerning an incident last month.

The spokesman said: "A 30-year-old from the Woodford Green area was arrested on suspicion of the harassmentof a man from the Hornchurch area." Repka was taken to Hornchurch police station for questioning before being transferred to Barking station where he was released on bail until next month.

Paul Aldridge, managing director of West Ham, said: "It was a minor incident, a non-football related matter, which took place some time ago. Beyond that I don't feel that I can comment further."

His arrest comes as Premiership striker Lee Hughes, 28, was branded "callous" by a judge after he fled the scene of a death crash.

The West Bromwich Albion player was jailed for six years yesterday for causing the death of a father-of-four.

The player disappeared for 36 hours after crashing his "supercharged" Mercedes into another car on a country lane near his West Midlands home. He had been drinking with friends. Three other people were seriously injured.