Chris Martin halted a charity gig this week to ask an audience member to stop accompanying him on a tambourine.

Martin and Coldplay guitarist, Jonny Buckland, were playing Mencap's Little Noise Sessions at St John-at-Hackney Church in Lower Clapton, East London on Thursday (November 24), when he heard the tambourine being played during the intro to the duo's stripped down version of 'The Scientist'. 

Martin said: "This is not a tambourine song, I don't mean to be rude.

"Let me be honest with you, we tried tambourine on the recording and had to scrap it — so we have been playing it for ten years with no tambourine.

"It probably sounds great, but I'm just used to it without tambourine. Don't take it personally.

"I can't see what you look like, but you look lovely and sound fantastic. Don't take this to be some kind of anti-tambourine rally or rant against the tambourine. It's one of my favourite instruments."

Mencap's 'Little Noise Sessions' are now in their 6th year, with this being the first year in the Lower Clapton venue. 

Other artists taking part this season include Goldfrapp, Sinead O'Conner, Elbow, and Example.

Watch fan footage of Chris Martin asking for the tambourine player to stop, and other footage from their Mencap gig below: