Soccer gang rape claim: two more arrested

Two more men were arrested today in connection with allegations by a 17-year-old girl that she was gang-raped by Premiership footballers at a London hotel, police said.

The men, aged 22 and 19, attended two London police stations by appointment where they were arrested and remained in police custody, Scotland Yard said.

The men were not identified and the police stations involved were not named.

The arrests bring to four the number of men quizzed about the allegations so far.

A 27-year-old man arrested yesterday was bailed by police last night pending further inquiries.

On Wednesday party organiser Nicholas Meikle, 29, was arrested and bailed over the accusations after going voluntarily to a police station.

The girl claims she willingly had sex with one man but was then gang-raped by a group of others, including several Premiership footballers, at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane on September 27.

Meikle, from Catford, south London said he welcomed the police investigation which he hoped would clear him over the "groundless" allegations.

Meikle said the girl agreed to have sex with him. He claims she then consented to sex with one of his friends and two Premiership footballers from two different clubs and that at no stage was she raped.

The investigation into the girl's claims is being carried out by Scotland Yard's Operation Sapphire team, which handles sex crimes.

Rumours about the identities of the football players allegedly involved have flooded the internet and circulated among fans but the media have so far not published their names.