Axl Rose ends Leeds set with foul-mouthed rant

Rock singer Axl Rose launched a foul-mouthed tirade against police and promoters as he left the stage at a festival.

The Guns N' Roses singer told the crowd at Leeds Festival the band was informed it would be allowed to play until just before midnight but was pulled off stage at around 11.15pm on Sunday night.

He told the throngs of watching fans: "We come here to play for you but the cops and the promoters wanna f*** us in the a**.

"We would like to play a few more songs for you but we'll just play one."

The band, which was 35 minutes late to the stage, then broke into Paradise City.

There were fears the frontman would repeat his performance at the festival in 2002 when he kept fans waiting for nearly three hours, especially after he arrived on stage one hour late at the festival's sister event in Reading on Saturday.

As the group's Leeds set drew to a close, Rose, who underwent numerous costume changes during his performance, repeated his earlier sentiment and said: "Be safe, good night and to all the cops and promoters - f*** you."

But despite the hostility towards promoters and police, the band played for nearly two hours and was met with a warm welcome from thousands of fans on the festival's last night.

The band mixed in many new songs with old favourites such as November Rain, Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome to the Jungle.

The set brought the three-day festival to a close. Arcade Fire headlined on Friday while Blink 182 topped the bill on Saturday night.