Actor Laurence Fox has apologised after swearing at a heckler during a performance at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park on Wednesday evening.

The actor and singer-songwriter unleashed an expletive at the audience member during his performance as French statesman Charles de Gaulle in The Patriotic Traitor at the theatre in Clifton Terrace.

According to Mr Fox, a man in the front row had been heckling and muttering early on in the play before telling him to “f**k off” later on.

“It became so loud and so impossible to deal with,” Mr Fox told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning.

Apparently unable to control his anger, Mr Fox changed his final speech and was heard saying: “I won’t bother telling you the story because this c*** in the front row has ruined it for everybody.”

Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Fox apologised “to the other 199 people in the theatre”.

“It was a very emotional part of the play and I was very upset about it and I’m upset about how I behaved,” he told presenter Sarah Montague.

The actor added: “If someone is hellbent on heckling they’re ruining it for everybody – in particular the rest of the audience and the actors – so it becomes an un-performable play. The play stops at that moment.”

He said he had spoken to his father, actor James Fox, about it.

Mr Fox Snr reportedly said his son should have approached the heckler and said: “Excuse me, sir, people are trying to watch the play. You can either leave or we can talk about it at the end.”

The Park Theatre was not immediately available for comment when contacted by the Gazette.