Loyalist terrorists attempted to prevent The Clash from playing in Northern Ireland in the 1970s by posting a death threat to the punk band, an autobiography has revealed.

In his newly-released memoir, Elvis Costello explains how the letter, written in red ink, left lead singer Joe Strummer shaken-up.

The letter claimed to be from a loyalist terror group threatening to kill the band if they came to Northern Ireland.

The Clash hero's fears were heightened when he noticed the Belfast postmark.

Costello also explains the inspiration behind his most successful song - Oliver's Army - which he penned hours after his first visit to Belfast in 1978.

In the book, Unfaithful Music And Disappearing Ink, he tells how seeing the "youth of the British soldiers" patrolling the streets of the city triggered thelyrics for the song.

Costello, who performed at the Waterfront in Belfast last year, also linked the song to other troublespots in the former British Empire, but it was while he was travelling with his band The Attractions to the Queen's (now Mandela) Hall that he spotted the squaddies, who he described as "little kids holding machine guns".

Expand Close Elvis Costello on stage in Derry in 2013, his first gig in Northern Ireland in 29 years / Facebook

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Whatsapp Elvis Costello on stage in Derry in 2013, his first gig in Northern Ireland in 29 years

"When I had gone to Belfast we couldn't even stay at the Europa Hotel in the city centre as it was under reconstruction after the latest attempt to blow it up," he wrote. "On our