LONDON, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - Hollywood actor Christian Bale, the star of the new Batman film, has been arrested over allegations that he attacked his mother and sister, police and media reports said Tuesday.

Unnamed police sources quoted by the domestic Press Association news agency said the 34-year-old was detained on suspicion of assault, which is alleged to have happened in his suite at London's plush Dorchester Hotel on Sunday.

A Scotland Yard spokesman told AFP that a 34-year-old man was arrested after turning up at a police station and was being questioned. They refused to divulge his identity, in line with force policy.

The force confirmed earlier Tuesday that they had received a formal complaint after the two women, who live in the county of Dorset, southwest England, made statements to Hampshire Police in southeast England.

Welsh-born Bale, who starred in 'American Psycho', 'Empire Of The Sun' and 'Batman Begins', attended the British premiere of the new Batman film, 'The Dark Knight', in London's Leicester Square Monday evening.