Sir Elton John walks off stage mid-performance after a "rude" fan repeatedly ignored him.

Sir Elton John has hit out at a “rude” and “disruptive” fan who caused him to storm off stage during a performance in Las Vegas.

The singer had invited a group of revellers from the audience on to the stage while he was performing Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting, something he often does.

But in a video clip, which has been circulated online, Sir Elton can be seen becoming irritated as one of the fans repeatedly leans over and tries to touch him and his keyboard.

In a statement published on his Instagram account, the singer explained what happened.

Thursday night in Las Vegas a fan put his hands on the piano keys while I was playing and continued to do so even after I asked him to stop. He then proceeded to reach over the piano and try to take pictures, completely disrupting the performance. I bring fans onstage every evening when we play ‘Saturday Night’ in the set, it is always a lovely part of the show where I get to meet them, shake their hands and have them right there with me while I play. They have always been very courteous to the fact we are in the middle of playing a song live. This guy was rude, disruptive and had no care or respect for our show and so I let him know how I felt, then left the stage until they had removed him.

A post shared by Elton John (@eltonjohn) on Mar 3, 2018 at 1:44pm PST

“Thursday night in Las Vegas a fan put his hands on the piano keys while I was playing and continued to do so even after I asked him to stop. He then proceeded to reach over the piano and try to take pictures, completely disrupting the performance.

“I bring fans onstage every evening when we play ‘Saturday Night’ in the set, it is always a lovely part of the show where I get to meet them, shake their hands and have them right there with me while I play.

“They have always been very courteous to the fact we are in the middle of playing a song live. This guy was rude, disruptive and had no care or respect for our show and so I let him know how I felt, then left the stage until they had removed him.”

The video appears to show the 70-year-old shout an expletive at the fan before getting up from his seat and walking off the stage.

After the song finished Sir Elton came back on to the stage and told the audience: “No more coming on stage during Saturday Night, you f***** it up!”