Ed Sheeran stuns fans and joins pal Foy Vance on stage after nine-month hiatus

The British tunesmith began a well-earned break from music in October last year, with the aim of travelling the world.

However after nine months, Ed returned to the spotlight by joining his friend Foy Vance on stage at the event in his home county of Suffolk, England, yesterday afternoon.

Foy, who is signed to the Talking Out Loud singer's record label, Gingerbread Man Records, was playing the festival's BBC 6 Music stage when Ed unexpectedly appeared with his famous ginger locks hidden beneath a baseball cap.

The pair performed Foy's 2013 song Guiding Light - a track Ed has covered at his own gigs.

It is not the first time the 25-year-old singer-songwriter has delighted fans by turning up unannounced to play at the festival, sited near to Ed's hometown of Framlingham, as last year he performed a surprise 75-minute set.

Sunday's impromptu performance appears to be another sign that the singer's hiatus is coming to an end, as last week, it was reported that he had been working on new music with American producer Benny Blanco after the pair booked a trip on the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship.

After boarding the boat in New York, Ed, whose 2014 hit Don't was co-produced by Benny, reportedly booked a room and began an intense writing session.

"While aboard he requested a meeting room so they found him a basic, windowless crew room in the bowels of the ship," a source told Britain's The Sun newspaper. "He spent the entire week locked away, writing."

The cruise wasn't entirely a working holiday for the pair however, as the 28-year-old producer shared a picture of himself and Ed recreating the famous pose struck by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the 1997 film Titanic, while on the deck of the vessel.