Robbie gets the giggles

Chart star Robbie Williams crumpled in a fit of giggles when he began a one-off show for an audience 400 times smaller than his record-breaking Knebworth concerts.

He was following in the footsteps of The Beatles by performing at Abbey Road, the studios where the Fab Four recorded their greatest moments.

His performance was for a Radio 2 Christmas special and was in front of just 300 fans.

But the singer said he was unnerved by how large the intimate audience actually looked in the studio, breaking his concentration as he played Escapology album track Nan's Song.

"I'm sorry, I was totally in my own world," he said as he fluffed the track, which he was playing solo, and burst out laughing.

"I was playing the song and really meaning it and then I started thinking 'There's a lot of people here, isn't there?'

"We'll pretend this never happened," he said, as he continued with the opening track of the 90-minute show.

This summer, Williams, 29, played to 120,000 people each day for a three-show stint at Knebworth, setting a new record.

But he went for a more intimate setting for last night's concert, to be broadcast by Radio 2 on December 20.

The singer said he found it weird being able to see his fans close up in the tiny venue.

"It freaks me out, it really does. I go on and do a show at Knebworth and it doesn't exist, it's that big. And then I come do little ones and I can see everyone and you can see me."

Williams played a string of hits including No Regrets, Eternity, Come Undone and his breakthrough single Angels.

And he threw in a few of his more rarely aired tracks such as Lazy Days and Phoenix From The Flames.