A session musician has spoken of his spat with John Lennon on the 30th anniversary of the icon’s death.

Saxophonist Johnnie Gray, who played on The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Hey, Jude, said Lennon had taken umbrage at his impressive moustache.

Speaking yesterday the 90-year-old of Telscombe Cliffs, said: “I did not get on with John Lennon and he did not get on with me. He had a spat at me. He said, 'What have you got that moustache for?'

“I said, 'Why are you wearing those glasses – is it just for affectation?'”

Mr Gray, who said he was left fuming after the Fab Four turned up 90 minutes late for rehearsals, also saw McCartney and Lennon pen Yesterday.

He said: “I was not pleased that they turned up late. I had played with some of the greats – Frank Sinatra, Matt Monro, Ella Fitzgerald – and they were old-school disciplined people who were always on time.

“Paul McCartney was nice and was a very, very good pianist and George Harrison hardly said a word to anyone. He never spoke to me.

“But one thing I do remember was that during one recording session we all took a breather for 15 minutes, and Lennon and McCartney sat there and wrote Yesterday in about 15 minutes.

“It was a song that made millions but I watched them sit there and write the whole thing in just a few minutes.”

Mr Gray played with The Beatles from 1965 to 1968.

John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment on the night of 8 December 1980.

The 40-year-old was shot several times as he entered the Dakota, his luxury apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Mark Chapman was convicted of Lennon's murder and sentenced to life in prison.