Doherty never planned to quit band

Pete Doherty never planned to leave Babyshambles, he simply wanted to take time out from the public spotlight, his bandmates have insisted.

The singer cancelled several of the group's gigs last month, leading to speculation that the band had split.

"It feels like a lot has happened, yet nothing has happened," drummer Adam Ficek is quoted by Contactmusic.com as saying. "There's so much media speculation, you get drawn into it.

"We were thinking, 'What has just happened?' I don't think anyone was really sacked. Things were moving really fast, people got a bit dizzied by it and there was a communication breakdown between everyone.

"And things are on track now. We've been hanging out together. It was a case of pulling in the reigns and checking where we were at and where we were going.

"Ultimately, things were moving so fast I think it was a case of stopping everything and taking a good look around or having no band and no music. So ultimately that had to come first. And I think the fans would agree with that."