The `Death of You and Me` hitmaker was astonished when he discovered the man had broken into his house, but managed not to cause a scene while his wife called police.

Recalling the incident, which happened in 1999, he told NME magazine:" I remember getting home one afternoon when I`d moved out to the countryside. I`d come back and there was a bit of commotion in the kitchen,

"There was a guy sat at the kitchen table who`d just broken into my house. Just a guy. And this was just after George Harrison had got stabbed [in his home].

"He`d travelled all this way and heard I recently moved there so he was just in there waiting for me, like it was the most normal thing in the world. I was with a friend of mine - who happened to be a black dude - so we sat around the kitchen table, made him a cup of tea and kept him talking while my wife went to call the police."

However, Noel - who has daughter Anais, 12, with first wife Meg Matthews and sons Donovan, four, and Sonny, 14 months, with current spouse Sara MacDonald - was shocked when police finally arrived - because they tackled his friend, not the intruder.

He explained to NME magazine: "Where I lived was on a country lane and the police couldn`t find the house, so I went down to the gate to let them in and said, `There`s a bit of a weirdo in the kitchen - I don`t know what`s happened but it`s pretty f***ing freaky.`

"And as I`d gone outside, the guy tried to make a run for it, so my mate grabbed him. Anyway, the police go up the driveway - it`s about a quarter of a mile - and my the time I`ve got there, they`ve got my mate in a headlock! The black guy!

"The other guy was just stood there! And I`m like, `Are you f***ing kidding me? He`s my f***ing mate. It`s this guy here who`s just broken into my house.` I was like, `Wow! F***ing hell.` "
sections: Celebrities