SUSAN Boyle upset her Manchester fans when she pulled out of two performances of the Britain's Got Talent live tour.

Thousands arriving for the M.E.N. Arena gigs were met with signs stating that Susan would not perform at the matinee and evening shows.

A spokeswoman for the tour said the singer wished to apologise to fans, but said she had been told to rest after appearing in Birmingham on Friday night and at two shows in Sheffield on Saturday.

She said: "Following three sensational performances Susan Boyle has been advised to rest. She sends her sincere apologies to her fans for not appearing in Manchester."

Fans were offered a refund if they didn't want to watch the show, which included all the other finalists from the ITV talent show and the winners, dance group Diversity. Among those who returned their tickets were Joan Harvey and Denise Taylor, from Chester to see SuBo. Joan, 55, said: "We're devastated - we came just to see Susan. We checked on the internet before we set out to make sure she would be appearing and it said she was. It's atrocious that we've been treated like this. We don't blame Susan, but how can she be expected to do 23 shows if she can't do three without a rest?" Denise, 45, said: "We're the people who put her where she is and yet we can't even see her perform."

Fans who stayed were shown a video of Susan's performance of Les Miserables classic I Dreamed A Dream on the final of the hit show. Susan became an overnight sensation after her first Britain's Got Talent audition, generating 100 million hits on youtube and winning fans across the globe.

But after coming second in the final to Diversity, the 48-year-old spent a week in The Priory clinic in London suffering from exhaustion.

A spokeswoman for Susan insisted there was `nothing sinister' behind the decision to sit out the Manchester shows.

She said: "There was always going to be some dates on the tour that Susan would not perform, it was always going to be up to Susan how she felt.

"After the Sheffield show Susan felt tired so the decision was made that she would return to London to have a rest day, and then depending on how she feels she may return for either the Glasgow show on Monday or Edinburgh on Tuesday."

But fans heading to the Arena were still treated to a show packed with thrills and spills - with Diversity getting standing ovations for their spectacular routines.

There was also a return for last year's winner George Sampson.

Show host Stephen Mulhern sent out a happy birthday message to 99-year-old Ivy Jones in the audience - proving just what a huge following from all age groups Britain's Got Talent can now claim.