Ed Sheeran says he had permission to busk after police stopped his performance

Ed Sheeran insists he had permission to busk in India after police stopped his performance on the street.

Social media videos taken of the Suffolk-based singer, 33, show him in Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore, playing his guitar and singing on Church Street when a police officer stops him and unplugs his mic.

In an Instagram story, Sheeran said: “We had permission to busk, btw (by the way). Hence, us playing in that exact spot was planned out before. It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though. See you at the show tonight.”

His tour had stopped at the south-west Indian city, where he played two dates at its NICE grounds venue on Saturday and Sunday before moving to perform at Shillong in north-east India on Wednesday, and Gurugram near Delhi at the weekend.

A 22-year-old software engineer, who took the video of Sheeran, said he was “a bit disappointed when police stopped him”.

Sahil Kaling, currently living in Bengaluru, added: “They should have let him complete at least one song.”

He said he saw Sheeran begin to sing his chart-topping hit Shape Of You before he was stopped by the officer, and prevented from continuing.

Mr Kaling said he had earlier “joked” with a friend about seeing Sheeran that day before running into the hitmaker.

He added: “We decided to take a walk on Church Street and just before entering (Mahatma Gandhi) MG Road metro station we saw him get off car.

“We couldn’t believe we got the chance to see him performing up close. It was surreal.”

Sheeran started his career busking and playing at small local venues before going on to become a multi award-winning global star, and regularly takes to the streets in various cities.

The singer-songwriter has been busking in the London Underground, as well as in Brooklyn, New York, and has played surprise concerts in his local town of Ipswich.

His recent show in India also included bringing Indian singer Shilpa Rao on stage for them to sing in a local language.