Indian police have pulled the plug on a street performance by Ed Sheeran, outraging fans and prompting the British singer to issue a clarification.

Sheeran, dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts, was singing and playing his guitar on a footpath in the centre of the Indian tech capital of Bengaluru ahead of his concert on Sunday night when he was abruptly interrupted.

Local channels and footage circulating online shows a policeman walking up to Sheeran as fans sang along while he belted out his hit single Shape of You. The officer unplugs Sheeran’s microphone, as onlookers jeer.

“While Sheeran valiantly attempted to carry on with his performance, once his mic was cut, he smiled and shrugged in defeat,” a witness said.

Sheeran left soon after.

Police said event organisers had refused permission for the street performance, which was on one of the city’s busiest streets.

“I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place,” Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Sheeran, who began his career as a busker in the UK, said later on his Instagram account that he did have permission to perform.

“It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though,” he wrote.

Sheeran is in India for his Mathematics Tour of seven cities. He performed in front of thousands of people at an open ground in the city later that night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao.

-with AAP