He saw the man, with his seven-year-old daughter, in the crowd with a banner reading: "Smash your guitar, Pete!"

The axeman asked them to "go away with that sign" adding: "I want to tell you two words but I can't because you've got a child there." Then he mouthed the words "F**k off" towards them.

After receiving criticism from online communities Townshend penned the apology, in which he says: "Apologies and condolences from my side, and very best wishes to you and your family.

I asked my friend Mike Tyler to find you so I could tell you that I am so sorry the story about us blew up the way it did, but also to tell you that I sympathize with you both, and your daughter's mother, and that I am most certainly not angry. I was not angry on stage either. I was in rock star mode, the big mouth.

I could have handled it differently. I thought of sending someone to find you both and telling you I was not upset, but we were flying to New York straight after the show, and had no time to spare. I wish things had been different. It would have saved you from all this furor.