Johnny Marr has left The Cribs in order to focus on his own solo career, it's been announced.

The former Smiths guitarist joined the group in 2008 and featured on their latest album 'Ignore The Ignorant'.

In a statement, he said: "Touring and recording with Ryan, Gary and Ross has been fantastic and 'Ignore The Ignorant' is something I'm really proud of.

"We ended up doing much more than we originally set out to, and I've made three good friends."

Marr told Billboard that he is currently working on new solo songs and planned to put out two new albums over the next year.

He also said he hoped to continue his film soundtrack work after scoring the movie Inception alongside Hans Zimmer.

(by Jason Gregory)