POLICE are investigating after a ‘suspicious letter’ caused singer Joe McElderry to cancel his gig.

The 26-year-old decided not to go ahead with the show at the Empire Theatre, in Consett, minutes before the curtain was due to go up on Friday evening.

A Durham police spokeswoman said: “On April 21, we received a call at 9.45am that a suspicious letter had been received by a business in Consett.

“We attended, collected the letter and it was forensically examined by special branch.”

Nigel Dodds, strategic manager for culture and sport at Durham County Council, said: “Joe is a very popular artist and we love working with him, so we’re looking forward to being able to announce a new date for the show soon.”