GLOBAL superstar Sting was back on home turf at the weekend.

The Wallsend-born singer returned to the North-East to perform a selection of his songs and talk about his childhood growing up on Tyneside.

Sting, who is more used to playing to sold-out stadiums, played to just 600 fans packed into a school hall in South Shields on Saturday.

He agreed to deliver the annual South Shields lecture, organised by the town’s former MP David Miliband, at Harton Technology College.

The show featured songs from his Tyneside-set musical The Last Ship, due to be staged at Sage Gateshead in April, as well as a smattering of hits from his days as frontman with The Police, including Roxanne and Message In A Bottle.

Before the show, Sting took a boat trip on the river which inspired The Last Ship as guest of lecture sponsor Port of Tyne.