Rev Jonathan Baker walks onto the stage in his dressing gown during the show

A CHORAL concert came to an unceremonious end when a weary bishop walked on stage and shut down the show.

Rev Jonathan Baker, a priest at St Andrew Holborn, said the City Academy Voices event was making a “terrible racket”.

There were 300 people in the audience when he walked on stage barefoot and in his dressing gown at 10pm on Friday.

He said: “You are in my house. Can you leave it now, please? Thank you. It’s over.”

There was some booing before loud cheering as the choir performed its finale: an a cappella version of ABBA’s Dancing Queen.

The intervention was just three minutes from the end of the show, which was the choir leader’s last concert.

Rev Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, later apologised, saying he was unaware the concert had overrun due to technical issues, but only after a short film went viral and the story was picked up by many media outlets over the weekend.

St Andrew Holborn church [Mike Quinn]

Singer Raj Swamy, whose solo performance had to be cancelled due to the early finish, said: “I felt like I was being asked to leave an irritating teenage house party, when this was a ticketed event, performed by a hard-working choir and a paid band. There were children and families in the audience, too, who were consequently confused and let down.

“The bishop could’ve handled it a lot differently but instead disrespected, disappointed, and shocked us by the way he shut the event down.”

St Andrew Holborn, a site of worship for more than 1,000 years renovated by Christopher Wren in the 17th century, often plays host to concerts, banquets and fashion shows. It has a crypt that dates from Roman times.

City Academy Voices has five choirs including two mixed-repertoire, a pop and rock choir, musical theatre, and ladies-only choir.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of London: “Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to technical difficulties.”