Dressed in a tuxedo, he told the 30,000 crowd: "As you know, my girlfriend dumped me, and so I went on holiday with the lads. But then I missed her, so I rang her, and this is what I said."

He then performed Take That's old hit Back For Good - with Ms Appleton watching from the wings, preparing for her own performance with All Saints in the festival's dance tent.

Many excited fans had to be pulled from the crush at the front of the stage during Williams' performance, which followed a day of heavy rain and strong winds.

James Brown: Still feeling good at V98

Festival hailed as success

The crowd made the best of things - by huddling under tents, trees and plastic bags - but the site did not become a mudbath, unlike June's Glastonbury Festival.

Fans are hailing the V98 festivals - held simultaneously in Chelmsford and Leeds - as a success, despite the appalling weather at the festival's southern site on Sunday.

The Verve and the Lightning Seeds played at Chelmsford on Saturday, before travelling to Leeds for Sunday night. Robbie Williams and The Charlatans played Leeds on Saturday, before moving onto Chelmsford.

Tickets for both venues sold out in July, and police reported 10-mile traffic jams leading up to the Chelmsford site.

Other highlights included a rare performance from soul superstar James Brown, PJ Harvey's first concert appearance in two years, and a celebrity five-a-side football match at the Chelmsford site.