The former England football star Paul Gascoigne has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after being arrested at a hotel on Tyneside, sources said today. He was detained after Northumbria Police were called last night to a hotel in Gateshead, Gascoigne's home town.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "Police attended the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead yesterday evening after we received a report of concern for a 40-year-old man staying at the hotel.

"The man was detained under the Mental Health Act and no-one was injured during the incident."

Mr Gascoigne, who has had a history of emotional instability, was most recently manager of Kettering Town, but also played for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio and Rangers. He was capped 57 times for England.

The Sun newspaper reported last week that Mr Gascoigne had been staying at a luxury hotel in Newcastle as he recovered from a hip operation.

"While there was no disturbance caused, we did receive a phone call from the police later that day," the hotel said in a statement. "Since then we can confirm that he was escorted calmly from the hotel and we are continuing to cooperate with the police."

Gascoigne was also involved in an incident at another hotel, the Malmaison, in nearby Newcastle earlier on Wednesday. Police said they responded to reports that a guest "was behaving in a disorderly manner towards other guests. "

"The man was spoken to by police and left the hotel," Northumbria Police said.

Nigel Massey, a spokesman for the Malmaison, said Gascoigne was aggressive toward a night porter when a fire alarm went off, and was taken away from the hotel by his sister.

"For 12 days he was the perfect guest, then something snapped," Massey said. "This is an unfortunate situation. We hope he gets well and comes back soon."

Under the Mental Health Act, police can take a person from a public place to a "place of safety" — a police station or hospital — if they are "suffering from mental disorder" and "in immediate need of care or control."

A person can be detained for a maximum of 72 hours until the person can be examined by a doctor and treated by a social worker.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Oh no, Mr Darling: you have failed
• BBC survives dogfight over Kennel Club expose
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone