Noel Gallagher has criticised the 20,000 fans who asked for their money back after his band's homecoming gig was marred by technical problems.

The Oasis guitarist called them "cheeky", and wrote of his surprise that so many took him up on his offer of a refund after the Heaton Park show.

The band twice had to leave the stage in Manchester because of a power fault.

In his blog, Gallagher wrote: "So you were genuinely disappointed? There wasn't a 20,000 gap in the crowd."

'Let's have it'

Fans had paid £45 for tickets to see Oasis perform in Manchester earlier this month for the first time in four years.

The technical problems resulted in the show being disrupted for half an hour.

About 70,000 people saw Oasis abandon the opening track, only to return and be driven off the stage once more when the band tried a second song.

At the end of gig, Noel said: "Thank you very very much, this is a free gig - let's have it.

"Anybody who has kept their ticket will get a full refund."

If every fan asked for their money back it would cost £3m to refund them all.

Organisers had been planning for the gig for six months and said the event was the biggest at Heaton Park since the Pope's visit in 1982.