Four West Brom players questioned by Spanish police after 'stealing a car'

Four senior West Brom players have been questioned by police after allegedly stealing a taxi on a night out in Barcelona.

Police were called after the unnamed players, who are on the club's mid-winter training trip to Spain, were said to have driven a taxi from a McDonald's drive through before abandoning it outside their hotel.

'The club can confirm that four senior players were involved in an incident during this week's mid-winter training trip to Spain,' the club said in a statement.

'The club has instigated its own investigation into the incident and the players will be subject to the full rigours of our internal disciplinary procedures.

'Until such time as that investigation has been completed, the club will not be making any further comment.'

Police were called after the footballers allegedly drove off in the cab from a McDonald's drive-through and abandoned it outside their luxury five-star Spanish hotel before going up to their bedrooms.

The four players - who have not been named - were hauled down to a local police station after being dragged out of bed at The One boutique hotel.

The incident happened just before dawn on Thursday after they took time out of a three-day warm-weather training visit to Barcelona.

Manager Alan Pardew had taken his bottom-of-the-table team away to try to turn around results that have left them seven points from safety.

The trip followed the Baggies' sacking of chairman John Williams and chief executive Martin Goodman in a brutal boardroom cull which left Pardew under pressure to stave off relegation and save his job.

Regional Mossos d'Esquadra police confirmed the incident today as the players flew home.

A Mossos source said: 'It appears the players had headed to the Barcelona Olympic Port but found everything closed so late on which is normal for midweek.

'They decided to take a taxi to a McDonald's drive-through nearby and somehow and for some reason, left there in the cab but without the cab driver.

'The receptionist at the hotel they were staying at phoned police when she saw the taxi had been left unattended outside.

'Around the same time Mossos received a call from the stranded taxi driver.

'The four players who had got back to their hotel in the cab were taken to a local police station.

'They weren't formally arrested but they were taken to the station as suspects being investigated for a crime of vehicle theft so they could be identified.

'The taxi was taken about 5.30am on Thursday and returned to its rightful owner around 8am.

'A report on the incident will now be submitted to an investigating judge who will decide on the next steps to take.

'The judge could decide to summon them for further questioning but that will be something the courts have to decide.

'The four men identified by police are all West Brom players.'

Staff at The One hotel, a grand luxury hotel near the elegant Paseo de Gracia, declined to comment today although one insider said the receptionist who called police had told them the players had looked a 'little the worse for wear' as they returned from their night out.

One well-placed police source said: 'None of the players were breath-tested at the police station but that's normal where a person hasn't been stopped at the wheel of a car.

'The taxi driver has the right to make his own complaint because apart from anything else he wouldn't have been earning during the time he was without his cab.'

The drive-through the players allegedly took the taxi from is the McAuto on the Ronda Litoral, which is thought to open 24 hours. The hotel the players were staying at is a 10-minute drive away.

A receptionist at The One hotel said today: 'We are not making any comment.

No-one from the group it belongs to, H10 Hotels, replied to a response for a comment.

It was not immediately clear which duty court in Barcelona was dealing with the incident.