East 17 star Brian Harvey live-streams police officers arresting him for malicious communications

East 17 singer Brian Harvey left his phone streaming live for two hours as police officers turned up at his home to arrest him on suspicion of sending a malicious communication.

The 46-year-old star told fans watching via YouTube that "I need your protection", as six officers arrived to place him under arrest.

He refused to open his security gate for the police and filmed them as he asked questions about why they were there.

Read more: Harvey hospitalised after "worrying" live streams

One officer stated that "an allegation has been made against you of malicious comms".

The offence relates to sending messages described as “indecent, grossly offensive, threatening or false” which are designed to cause distress.

Watch: Harvey shares footage of previous arrest in 2017

Harvey asked: "Why are you doing this to me, man? People, are you seeing this? Please, I need your protection, people."

As the police read Harvey his rights, the singer left the phone running and posted it through the letterbox, with the stream continuing for more than two hours.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed to the Mirror that "police arrested a man aged in his 40s on suspicion of malicious communications, he was taken into custody".

No details of the malicious communications allegation against Harvey have been made public.

Harvey has recently been involved in a war of words with former partner Danniella Westbrook, whom he dated for several years in the early part of the 1990s.

At the time, he was at the height of his music industry fame and she was playing the role of Sam Mitchell in EastEnders.

Harvey made strong allegations against Westbrook in a video earlier this month, which she responded to in a social media posting of her own.

Read more: Westbrook reveals plans to become a therapist

The star was previously arrested for sending a malicious communication in November 2017, and again in March 2019.

Harvey was sacked from East 17 in 1997 and appeared on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here in 2004, releasing new music as recently as 2019.

Watch: Danniella Westbrook says she was turned down by Aldi after EastEnders sacking