Ed Sheeran signs autographs in hot sauce in supermarket car park

It may sound like fiction, but that was the strange reality for some shoppers who were in the perfect place, at the perfect time.

Fans were given an hour’s notice to make their way to the store after Sheeran announced the pop-up via social media and his fan email newsletter.

One of these fans was Harry Barnes, who spotted the email in his inbox and thought he would take a look in case Sheeran made an appearance.

Speaking to Babs Michel on BBC Three Counties Radio, Mr Barnes said only a few fans had been waiting by the time he got there – but once word got out that Sheeran was at the van, hundreds flocked to the car park.

“I’m a massive Ed Sheeran fan,” he told the BBC.

“The only problem was – I was in a Justin Timberlake t-shirt.”

Mr Barnes had been to a Justin Timberlake concert the night before, and was about to make his way home when he stopped at the supermarket.

He said he had thought better than to ask Sheeran to sign the Timberlake t-shirt. Nor did he have a photograph.

“I didn’t have anything worth signing,” he explained. “I had this block of cheese that they’d given and Ed was happy to sign it with his sauce, as long as I ate the block of cheese with his signature on it.

“I think I had three bites.”