Coldplay also won the Brit for best British single for Speed Of Sound

Martin said "we won't see you for a long time" while accepting the Brit award for best British album for X&Y earlier this week.

His comments sent the share price of their music company EMI sliding.

But a spokesman for the band said Coldplay were "not quitting" and would be starting work on new material soon.

Baby

He said: "Coldplay are on the road until July, when their 16-month X&Y World Tour ends in Japan.

"They will then continue working on new material."

When Coldplay collected their award at Wednesday night's ceremony, Martin told the audience: "You won't see us at one of these for many, many years so this is our last chance so we should really thank our label for the first time in history.

"We won't see you for a long time. Bye. We mean it. Bye."

His comments were interpreted in some quarters as an announcement Coldplay were splitting.

Shares in EMI - which also ranks Kylie Minogue, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney among its artists - fell by 1.58% to 249p on Thursday afternoon.

Martin's second child with his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, is due in April.