A man has been arrested on suspicion of racially abusing the mother of Sunderland striker Darren Bent during his side's 1-0 defeat against Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

Bent has been in devastating form for the Black Cats since his £10million switch to the Stadium of Light this summer, however, an angry fan berated the player's mother at a pub following the defeat at the DW Stadium.

The news prompted Greater Manchester Police and their counterparts in the Northumbria force to launch a combined investigation into the incident.

A 26-year-old from Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was arrested at 6.50pm on Monday, Northumbria Police said.

The force revealed the man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment at an alleged incident in Wigan on Saturday on behalf of Greater Manchester Police.

Bent was extremely upset by the incident and said on his now infamous Twitter page: "So we get beat by Wigan and to make matters worse my mum gets racially abused by a Sunderland fan. I won't stand for that."

The news will undoubtedly be condemned by Sunderland, who will seek to dispel any such behaviour, while the male in question has been released on police bail until January 12th, 2010.