A gunman is holding several people hostage in a Sydney cafe

Damon Albarn has postponed tonight's Sydney Opera House show due to the ongoing seige and hostage situation in a nearby cafe.

As BBC News reports, a gunman has been holding staff and customers hostage at The Lindt Cafe in the city's centre for around 12 hours. Five people have managed to escape from the building, but those still trapped inside at the time of writing are being forced to hold up a black flag with Arabic script on it.

There had been reports that the Sydney Opera House had also received a suspicious pakage, but representatives for the venue say these reports are unfounded.

A post on Albarn's Facebook page read: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, tonight’s Sydney Opera House performance has been rescheduled to tomorrow, Tuesday 16th Dec at 7:00pm. The original start time of 8:00pm for the Tuesday 16 Dec 2014 performance has been rescheduled to 9:30pm, to accommodate the additional performance."

Albarn has been touring Australia since 12 December, when he played in Melbourne with guest appearances from local rapper Remi and the Southern Gospel Choir of Tasmania.