Pop star Marc Almond went on a foul-mouthed tirade against two audience members at his Ipswich Regent show on Saturday - after he spotted them chatting through his set.

The Soft Cell singer was performing at the theatre as part of his Shadows and Reflections tour, when around half an hour through his set he began shouting and swearing at two women in the front row he had spotted chatting.

BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Stephen Foster, who had gone down to see the show with his wife Maggie, said he was shocked to hear the outburst.

He said: “My first Regent gig was in 1973 and I have been to hundreds of gigs there and apart from Mick Hucknall from Simply Red flaring up once I have never seen anything quite like it from a performer. “He was clearly upset but went the wrong way about it.

“He said they had been talking through three of his numbers.

“He was telling them in no uncertain terms he wanted them to leave.

“During the outburst he just lost it for about a minute.

“I was very surprised by his language.

“From time to time you get stroppy singers but normally they will turn a blind eye and get the security to sort it out.

“But by the end of the show he had everyone enjoying themselves again with some Soft Cell hits.

“It was just a huge shock to hear him use that sort of language - I just thought it was totally out of order.”

One member of the audience added: “It tarnished an otherwise magical evening.

“All the time we were thinking about those two poor women, they must have felt the lowest of the low.”

The singer has defended his outburst on Twitter saying the pair ‘deserved it for constantly talking loudly though three songs and distracting me’.

He said: “I’m sorry for the language but they have no respect for me or others.”

In another Tweet he added: “They’re not fans they’re just rude and disrespectful and I don’t want them at my shows.”

Some of the singer’s fans have backed his outburst.

Matt Hales said on Twitter: “Well done Marc, happens all too often, shushing didn’t work, they ignored us, perfectly well said, and what a show.”

Thomas Walsh said: “Seems like the perfect response to me.”