Comedian's 'stage rage' investigated by police

Lee Hurst, the stand-up comedian, has become the latest performer to succumb to "stage rage" when he launched a tirade against an audience member who had the audacity to send a text message during a gig in Guildford, Surrey.

Hurst, 46, reportedly saw red when he believed someone in the audience was secretly filming his gig on a mobile phone.

Witnesses described how the comedian, who rose to fame in the mid-Nineties as a team member on They Think It's All Over, launched into a four-letter tirade before seizing the phone and throwing it on the floor. He stormed off and refused to return, leaving an audience of 300 without a headline act.

The incident occurred last Wednesday at The Stoke pub in Guildford, which hosts a regular comedy night, "You Must Be Stoking". Police are deciding whether to bring charges.