Fight at the Opera! American tourists at the Proms spark row after munching on noisy snacks including popcorn during Royal Albert Hall performance

American tourists eating ‘noisy’ popcorn caused a ‘near fight’ at a Proms performance, according to witnesses.

The altercation happened during a performance of Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, when the tourists began munching on popcorn.

Jessica Duchen, a classical music critic and novelist, told The Times: ‘At the end of the row was a pair of American tourists who were munching on popcorn.

‘I couldn’t hear or smell it but behind them was a guy who was unbelievably abusive to them. We thought he might pull a knife on them.’

The American tourists and the man were moved away from each other during the interval, according to the venue.

One concert-goer wrote on Facebook: ‘WTF is the Royal Albert Hall doing selling POPCORN during the Proms? Involved in a near fight at one tonight. Ruined the first half of a superlative evening.’

But the Royal Albert Hall has sold ‘small packets’ of popcorn ‘without protest’ since 2014, according to its chief executive.

Ms Duchen wrote on Twitter: ‘Please, please, please stop selling popcorn. It’s noisy, smelly, intrusive and completely inappropriate at a concert and it causes big fights in the audience, ruining the evening for all around. Not what you want in Dialogues des Carnélites.’

James Ainscough, Chief Executive of the Royal Albert Hall, said: ‘We’ve sold small packets of popcorn, along with crisps and sweets, in our bars since 2014 without protest. 

‘There were some words exchanged between two audience members at a Prom on Monday, and both parties then asked to move seats, which was arranged, but the incident seems to have been blown out of proportion on social media. 

‘Different people enjoy different shows in different ways, so we always hope audience members will be considerate of those around them, and polite when they speak to each other. 

‘We will continue to monitor the situation as we want everyone to enjoy this amazing Proms season to the utmost.’