COURTNEY LOVE Arrested At London Airport

Former HOLE singer Courtney Love was arrested today (Feb. 4) at Heathrow Airport in London after being "verbally abusive" to cabin crew.

She was held as she landed on a transatlantic flight from Los Angeles, Virgin Atlantic said.

She had been travelling in Virgin's Upper Class cabin when she allegedly became disruptive and the captain called police, an airline spokeswoman said.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said the plane's captain had called police during the flight to notify them.

"Essentially she was acting in a disruptive manner," he added.

"We won't tolerate disruptive behavior and the matter is now in the hands of the police."

Witnesses said police met the flight when it arrived and after about 20 minutes Love was escorted off the plane by two others and put into a police van.

She was arrested on suspicion of disruptive behavior and endangering an aircraft — an offense which carries a possible two year prison sentence — and was taken to the airport's police station.

A woman passenger told reporters she had been rowing with flight attendants.

"There were a lot of raised voices," she said.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We can confirm that a woman arriving on a Virgin flight from LA has been arrested and as far as I know remains in custody."

It is thought Love was travelling to London to attend a concert at the Old Vic Theatre on Wednesday night, hosted by Sir Elton John and actor Kevin Spacey.

In related news, the following item appeared in yesterday's edition of the New York Post:

Courtney Love appears to be taking another walk on the wild side - spouting off at the mouth, stripping in public and generally "acting beyond ridiculous," sources say.

In the wee hours of Friday morning, the 38-year-old rocker/actress lit up the switchboard of Maui's Four Seasons Hotel - where she's currently ensconced - making loud and boisterous telephone calls around the world, spies told PAGE SIX.

Love, who is said to be holed up under the name of Mary Black, was looking for a smashing outfit to wear to Elton John's big Feb. 5 benefit in London to save the Old Vic theater. She is said to have called such fashion houses as Dolce & Gabbana, Alexander McQueen, and Givenchy/Christian Dior's John Galliano in Europe, New York and "even Lebanon and Israel."

"She wanted clothes sent to her from all over the world," according to a source. "She wants to look great."

Love might want to try getting her beauty sleep. Apparently, she logged more than a dozen telephone calls from 2 a.m. until dawn. "She [Courtney] was talking a mile a minute and she wouldn't shut up," says a source. "At one point, she actually said, 'Do you understand the clothes have to look perfect. Elton has asked me to sing, 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me'. And it's in front of the [bleep]ing Queen of England!"

In another phone call, she told a rep for a fashion company: "My clothes have to be right. Sinead O'Connor will be there let her make an idiot out of herself. I won't have to worry about that."

Our spy said: "I can only say, I hope she wasn't sober. If she was sober, she is most certainly crazy. I think psychologists would describe her conversational manner as 'loose association.' "

Meanwhile, Love set new standards for skankdom a couple of months ago during a photo shoot for England's Q magazine. She stripped off all her clothes during the shoot in a London hotel, then went outside and plopped down naked on a road.

By the time the shoot was over, Courtney had set fire to things, poured champagne over her head and had her bikini line waxed in a room full of people, a source tells London's Sun, which just published pictures of a nude Courtney getting into a taxi cab. Courtney's shoot appears in Q's 200th issue, out this week.

"You'd think the boys from Q magazine had never been to a photo shoot before," said Heidi Schaeffer, a spokesperson for Love, who did not respond to Love's Hawaii behavior.