Gascoigne held after takeaway disturbance

The former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was taken into custody on Sunday night after police were called to a disturbance at a takeaway in Leeming Bar.

The 42-year-old, who has faced a long battle with alcoholism and depression, and another man, aged 40, were questioned by officers before being released on bail pending further inquiries.

Gascoigne, who was sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act in 2008, has described how, when he hit rock bottom, he was taking cocaine and drinking a litre of gin a day, which left him delusional and afraid to leave his room.

In March last year he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Victoria Derbyshire that he had been clean of drink and drugs for four months, working the 12 Steps Programme and attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

But in December, he was handed a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly after being arrested in Newcastle.