Asked if she would return after the incident, the pop legend replied: "I have to, Britain is part of my work."

The BBC's Kurt Barling reports: "The singer was still visibly angry"

But Ms Ross said she had no plans to take action against the security guard, who she claimed had "fondled" her.

The 55-year-old singer, who is back in the United States after flying from London to New York on Wednesday night, said her ordeal was "hell".

She said she reacted angrily when the officer tried to frisk her as she prepared to board a British Airways Concorde.

Her belt buckle must have triggered the metal detector, she said.

She told The Mirror she had never been frisked before and added: "She was obviously very aware of who I was and she became quite aggressive.

"She touched my breasts, and down my back and down my thighs and between my legs.

Diana Ross is led away by police on Wednesday morning

"I felt really violated. I didn't like it. I didn't feel good about it and I didn't understand it."

Ms Ross said: "It's wrong. Nobody touches me like that.

"It wasn't just about being rough, it was personal."

She criticised the methods used at Heathrow and said other airports use hand-held metal detectors which do not touch the body.

Miss Ross had been travelling alone after meeting record executives to plan promotional campaign for her new single, Not Over You Yet.

She shot to fame in the 1960s as part of The Supremes, and has continued to win great acclaim into the 1990s.

The Detroit-born singer said after the examination was over she touched the officer and said: "This is how it feels to be fondled".

She said the woman claimed she had assaulted her and reported the matter to the police.

The star admitted she had been tired - she had been up late preparing a video shoot for her new single - and said: "Maybe others have more control but I was very tired."

But she insisted the security woman had acted improperly and said: "You don't let people do this to you."

She said after the incident she complained to the BA desk and was handed a complaints card, which she planned to fill in on the flight.

The former Supremes star said she had just got settled in her seat on the aircraft when two police officers arrived and asked her to accompany them to the police station.

The millionaire star, who had 150 hit records over 35 years, broke down in tears at the police station, where she was held for five hours.

'Worst experience'

Ms Ross said she felt miserable, humiliated and undignified and added: "It was the worst experience of my life."

Scotland Yard said she had been cautioned and no further action would be taken.

A Heathrow airport spokesman said: "We are required by law to hand search any passenger who activates the metal detector alarms.