Kiefer Sutherland is charged with assault

Kiefer Sutherland has been charged over an alleged head-butting incident in a New York bar.

The 24 star handed himself in to police in lower Manhattan to be questioned in relation to claims that he attacked fashion designer Jack McCollough in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A spokeswoman for New York Police Department said that Sutherland was subsequently charged with misdemeanour assault.

The case could create another major legal hassle for Sutherland, who served 48 days in jail on a drunken driving charge in California last year.

Sutherland showed up at a precinct in lower Manhattan in a limousine alongside his lawyers, but did not speak to reporters.

The designer, Jack McCollough, claims Sutherland attacked him after an argument, leaving him with a cut on his face.

Detectives may also question actress Brooke Shields as a witness because she was at the trendy SoHo nightspot where the alleged altercation took place.

Los Angeles city prosecutors plan to check with New York investigators to see if the incident is a violation of Sutherland's probation for a drink-driving conviction, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney.

Sutherland had pleaded no contest to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08%. He was sentenced to 30 days, in addition to 18 days for violating probation in a 2004 drink-driving arrest.