Bhoys trio arrested and bailed

The three - Belgian defender Joos Valgaeren, Swedish ace Johan Mjallby and Dutch winger Bobby Petta were arrested by police outside a Newcastle nightclub probing the theft.

The alleged incident is believed to occurred in the busy Quayside district of Newcastle, where the Celtic players were thought to be on a night out for the club's Christmas party.

"The players were with the group from the club who were in Buffalo Joe's on the Gateshead side of the river, as were a number of photographers," said Northumbria Police spokeswoman.

"There was an incident of some sort. The players left the premises, then one of the photographers reported the theft of his camera to police.

"After investigations on the quayside of the river, a number of Celtic players were arrested for questioning and three remain in custody and will be questioned later."

The club are due to carry out their own investigation into the incident before making any comment.

On Wednesday evening, the three arrested Celtic players were bailed out and told to re-appear at Gateshead East police station on March 24th, 2003.