Fans of Avril Lavigne were left fuming on Wednesday evening when they arrived at the singer's Cox Arena show in San Diego, California only to find the pop star had quietly cancelled the concert.

The Sk8ter Boi hitmaker, whose U.S. tour has been plagued by poor ticket sales, called in sick earlier in the day with laryngitis, prompting promoters to cancel the gig.

But Lavigne's management and the promoters failed to let fans know, prompting thousands to make the journey to San Diego only to find the concert had been cancelled.

One angry mum told WENN: "Most of Avril's fans are young girls, who had to travel quite a distance to get to the show.

"With gas prices what they are, you would have thought that someone would have alerted the local media and radio stations, so that everyone knew the concert was cancelled."

The singer has posted a statement on her official website apologising to fans and declaring a rescheduled performance will be announced in due course.