Paris Hilton has been accused of attacking a photographer because she "was on drugs".

The Hilton hotel heiress was captured on camera in a physical altercation with paparazzi member Billy Barerra on Tuesday.

According to Billy she was worried he had caught her doing something bad.

He told website RadarOnline: "It was 3:30 in the morning, the party was over and I was just walking through the parking lot to go to the bathroom when I see Paris, so I turned on my camera.

"I wasn't expecting to get jumped! I've shot Paris a lot and am always nice to her."

Shortly afterwards her entourage - including heir Brandon Davis - tried to take the camera from him.

Billy said: "Paris was acting like she was on drugs. I know drugs, I've seen a lot of people on them, and Paris is one of them."

He continued: "She attacked me for no reason, like you can see on the video, but what you don't see is that she was hanging off my neck like a piggy back ride as I walked up to the next garage level.

"Her friends all started attacking me and no one could see us until we got up to that next level, and that's when I yelled for help and the other paps came running and shot some video."

Later, staff at David Arquette's new nightclub Bootsy Bellows allegedly tried to strike a deal with him.

He claimed: "She said she wanted to negotiate with me, telling me this was bad publicity for the club."