Cruise pranksters released on bail

The four practical jokers arrested for squirting Tom Cruise with water at the London premiere of War Of The Worlds were released on police bail yesterday.

The film crew, who performed the prank for an upcoming comedy show to be broadcast by British TV network Channel 4, have been ordered to report back to police on July 4 and could be charged with assault if Cruise decides to take the matter further.

The 42-year-old was giving interviews to journalists attending the celebrity screening at Leicester Square's Odeon cinema when he was soaked with water squirted from a bogus microphone.

According to British newspaper The Daily Mirror, rock matriarch Sharon Osbourne was treated to a similar soaking at a film premiere in London last month, but she decided to take the law into her own hands and threw a bucket of water over the lead practical joker.