Gibson, 50, is alleged to have tried to escape when he was pulled over on the Pacific Coast highway near his Malibu home in the early hours of Friday morning and then launched into a barrage of anti-semitic curses against the arresting sheriffs.

Police have confirmed the actor and director, who rose to fame by playing characters such as Mad Max and a mentally unstable policeman in the Lethal Weapon series, was found to have a blood- alcohol level of 0.12%, above the 0.08% Californian limit. He was charged with drink-driving and released on $5,000 (£2,600) bail.

In a statement issued by Alan Nierob, his spokesman, Gibson did not detail what happened but said: “I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said.”

The star added: “I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse.”

Nierob refused to comment on reports that after Gibson was stopped for driving at 87mph in a 45mph zone on the notoriously dangerous road he sat at the wheel of his Lexus LS 430 and repeatedly said: “My life is f*****.”

According to police records, Gibson, a strict Catholic, then launched into an anti-semitic tirade, referring to “f****** Jews” and stating that “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world”. He also repeatedly insulted the police officers, addressing one female sergeant as “sugar tits”.

If true, the anti-semitic remarks are likely to cause a storm in Hollywood where many of the industry leaders are Jewish.

This is not the first time the actor has confronted allegations of anti-semitism. Gibson faced similar accusations when making his most successful movie, The Passion Of the Christ, whose dialogue is in Aramaic. The subtitle to one line, spoken by a Jewish priest, about Christ’s blood being “on us and our children” was removed to placate his critics.

There is also a family history. Gibson’s father Hutton has been branded a Holocaust denier for claiming the extermination of 6m Jews is largely a myth and that many of the supposed victims had moved to Brooklyn.

The actor has admitted “atrocities” were committed during the second world war but has stopped short of criticising his 87-year-old father, who is also a devout Catholic.

Gibson also has a history of trouble with alcohol. He admitted he nearly missed the audition for his breakthrough film, Mad Max, because he got into a drunken bar fight the night before.

“When I turned up on set without the scars two weeks later they did not recognise me,” he recalled.

In 1991 he joined a Malibu chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, where he accepted the help of female mentors to give up his beer habit, but has admitted it has been a “battle every day which only my wife can help me win”.

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