Police arrest man at Prince Charles' country home

LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) An intruder has been arrested after breaking into the grounds of the Prince of Wales's country home, British police said today.

A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire police in southwest England, where the heir-to-the-throne has his Highgrove country estate, said the man was detained yesterday and had been questioned and released on police bail.

''At 4 hrs yesterday morning, a man was arrested for trespassing at the Highgrove estate,'' she said. ''He was detained within the grounds and did not gain access to any buildings.'' Media reported Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall were asleep inside the house at the time, and that the man was armed with a pitchfork, but police could not confirm these accounts.

A spokesman for the royal household declined to comment, referring all enquiries to the police.

REUTERS BDP PM1645