X FACTOR finalist Matt Cardle wiped away tears after performing an emotional home-coming gig in his local pub.

The singer was mobbed by hundreds of fans as he arrived at the Five Bells, in Colne Engaine, alongside his mentor Dannii Minogue yesterday.

The 27-year-old, from Little Maplestead, signed autographs and posed for pictures before performing an intimate acoustic version of Nights in White Satin inside the pub.

After the performance, Matt was greeted with cries of “Stop” from the audience, as they wanted him to save his faltering voice for the X Factor final at the weekend after suffering tonsillitis.

Before playing, he told the crowd how important the local support had been in the competition.

He said: “A massive thank you from me and Dannii to everyone for supporting me and being here – it means the absolute world to us. There are no words to describe how I am feeling and I’m not even going to try, as my vocab isn’t that vast anyway.”

Dannii Minogue introduced Matt before he sang, and the Australian singer-turned-X Factor judge joked: “We won’t be mentioning the cricket at all!

“Thank you for bringing Matt home – this means so much to him. He started here at the buskers’ night and the Five Bells is where he developed his talent.”

Fans of the former painter and decorator waited outside the pub in the cold for a glimpse of their new hero.

Children from Colne Engaine Primary School cheered and sang the Bruno Mars song, Just the Way You Are as a tribute to Matt’s performance of the track earlier in the competition.

Staff from the pub leaned out of windows to cheer the singer, and landlord Darran Lingley said: “I don’t think Colne Engaine has seen anything like that. It’s a fantastic thing to see.

“We might not see Matt for a while after the show once the rollercoaster starts, but you couldn’t wish for a nicer guy for this to happen to. He was going to do four songs, but with his voice being the way it is, we said no, just do the one.”