OPERA singer Quentin Hayes sang his way out of trouble when he was mistaken for a skinhead member of the National Front.

The terrified baritone, who lives in Witney, was cornered by two 6ft tall men but was spared after booming out an aria from the Barber of Seville.

He had popped out for lunch while rehearsing his part as a bulldog in an opera in Birmingham.

His hair was cropped and he was wearing a Union Jack T-shirt, bomber jacket and 14-hole cherry red Doc Marten boots. He also had a large red rose transfer on his neck like a tattoo.

The two men looked him up and down and one, referring to the extreme right National Front, asked him: "Are you NF?"

Mr Hayes, 39, who is married with two children, said: "I thought 'I'm not NFU (the National Farmer's Union), no'. I looked puzzled and the men moved closer and I was asked 'Why are you dressed like that?' I replied 'I'm appearing in an opera - as a dog'.

"As soon as I said it, I realised how preposterous it must have sounded and the pair became very intimidating and menacing. One man reached down to the top of his boot. I was convinced he was going to pull out a knife."

He tried to convince them he was an opera singer and when he was asked to sing something operatic, he launched into Figaro's aria Largo al Factotum. Mr Hayes said: "They must have thought 'This guy's a fruitcake' and backed off. I was a bit shaken up. That's the last time I go out for lunch in DM boots. They take five minutes to do up and I only had an hour for my lunch.

"You can understand it. We tend to judge a book by its cover and not what's in it. I don't normally wander around in costume but I shall wear a duffle coat in future with a toupe, a false nose and glasses."He only realised how lucky he had been when he got back to rehearsals.

Andrew Bennett, administrator of the City of Birmingham Touring Opera, said: "When Quentin came back, he looked very shocked. When he told us what happened, everybody laughed. But afterwards we realised it could have been very serious.

"I can see how the problem arose. Quentin is a very convincing skinhead."

The company is rehearsing Janacek's Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears, better known as The Cunning Little Vixen.

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