Oasis, those self-styled hardmen of rock, have had to call in the big boys to fight their battles for them.

The Manchester band have clearly realised that being gobby is not enough to keep away any scally undesirables - so they have got some ex-SAS heavies to beef up their security.

The move was initiated by Noel Gallagher, who was assaulted on stage in Canada last year.

He fell very badly, landing on top of a monitor speaker and cracking several ribs.

So Noel, 42, didn't want a repeat performance when Oasis play at Wembley tonight, Saturday and Sunday. A pal of the band tells us: "Noel was seriously shook up after he was attacked. It was a freak moment when someone burst through and managed to get on stage. But he wanted to make sure he never had to go through that again.

"Despite his big mouth, he's only a small fella.

"There was a time when he was genuinely scared of getting back out there and performing.

"It was only fleeting but he couldn't get the image out of his head of what had happened.

"He was drugged up on painkillers and kept dreaming about the night. So he told Liam and the others that he wanted extra security. And, of course, they agreed - after all it could have been any of them.

"When he heard that a couple of the lads brought in to try out as security were ex-SAS, he knew he was in safe hands.

"They left the service a while ago. But their killer training never leaves them."

Oasis aren't the only celebs to call in the SAS. Last year, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe used the tough minders to protect him after he received death threats from a stalker.

Last night, a spokesperson for Oasis said the band do not comment on security issues.