Sting's guitarist Andy Summers thinks The Police shouldn't have broke up.

The 72-year-old rocker - who replaced original guitarist Henri Padovani in the band fronted by the 'Roxanne' singer - revealed that numerous fights caused them to disband and Sting to pursue a solo career but he believes that they should have stayed together.

He said: ''I think what we should have done was probably take two years off, gone away and then come back.

''But it didn't play out that way so we stopped and of course cleared the stage for U2.''

Andy addmitted that the band - including drummer Stewart Copeland - would fake getting along together on stage.

He said: ''We were always crushing each other ... There were some horrendous scenes. I remember playing Newcastle and we had a horrendous fight in the dressing room before we came out smiling to do the last song.''

Andy went on to play guitar for Sting on his hit album 'Nothing Like the Sun' and on his 'Nohing like the Cage' tour but he recalled the days of being in The Police as the most ''rock and roll'' of his life.

He told The Mirror: ''It was definitely the rock and roll life... and I paid for it.

''You can image the position we were in. We were like the three most desirable men in the world, so what's a guy going to do?

''We became more than a band, we became a worldwide phenomenon and it was incredibly intense and it started to strain the relationships.''