Justin Hawkins has quit the Darkness.

The singer has decided to call it a day following a stint in The Priory rehab clinic in London.

He told the Sun newspaper that "it would be damaging to my recovery to stay on. I'm not blaming the band for my problem: I am an addict. There are people who can be in bands and stay clean, but I'm not one of them."

It seems the singer's cocaine addiction was costing him over £1,000 a week.

The band are set to continue, with bassist Richie Edwards, who replaced former band member Frankie Poullain, taking over the vocals.

Hawkins, who plans to work on solo material and music for films, talks about the kind of person he'd become: "secretive, volatile and verbally abusive, a really unpleasant person to be around."

He also tells how he considered quitting the Darkness last year, before the band went on their world tour.