Liam Payne fans hold memorials in London and across the world for One Direction singer

Thousands of Liam Payne fans have tearfully remembered the late One Direction singer at memorial events in London and across the world.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of fans queued in Hyde Park to leave handwritten notes, balloons and flowers at the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, in tribute to the 31-year-old who died on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

Directioners - the name given to One Direction supporters - sang and left tributes there, as well as in cities including Glasgow, Paris, Sydney, New York.

Fans of the globally famous group also gathered in countries such as the Philippines and Colombia to celebrate Payne’s life.

Speaking in Hyde Park Natasha Bradley, 23, said she wanted to be around people who were “feeling the same because your parents, they don’t really understand how much they really meant to you growing up”.

Tess Hayden, from the US, was on holiday with her brother in Dublin when she heard news of Payne’s death, and made changes to her schedule so she could be with other One Direction fans in London.

The 24-year-old called the news “very surreal”, describing Payne’s death at the age of just 31 “devastating, and shocking”.

Crowds at the vigil were mainly made up of young people who had grown up listening to One Direction songs.

They were pictured embracing their friends and family, while singing What Makes You Beautiful and other chart-toppers in unison.

The crowd was so large that at several points organisers asked those gathered in the centre to leave their tributes and head to the back so other fans could get through.

Those who reached the statue of Peter Pan wrote messages, sang or said messages including “Liam, I love you”, which were met with applause and shouts of support from the crowd.

Ellen Cree, 29, attended a separate memorial at the Walter Scott Monument in George Square in Glasgow, said it was a “very poignant event”.

Ms Cree, from Dunfermline, Fife, who left white roses and a card with her sister, told the PA new agency: “From my point of view, it was of course very sad, with a lot of tears, but there were hints of happiness, with people chatting about fond memories and singing along to music.”

Payne died after falling from the third floor balcony of his hotel room in Argentina, which he had been visiting to see his former bandmate Niall Horan perform a solo show.

The room was found in a shambolic state with TV screen smashed and debris, including a white powder and foil, littering the suite.

He died after reportedly facing a battle against drug and alcohol addictions. The One Direction star checked in to The Priory in late July as he sought help to tackle the issues, the Sun reported.

Before the weekend, Payne’s father headed to Buenos Aires to arrange the repatriation of his son’s body.

Geoff Payne on Friday visited the Casa Sur Hotel, where the Wolverhampton star fell from a third-floor balcony, and read letters and cards from fans outside.

On Saturday, Payne’s sister Ruth Gibbins paid a heartfelt tribute to her brother on Instagram saying she does not feel “this world was good enough or kind enough” to him, and sharing pictures.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you” she wrote, adding: “One last time I need you to know, I’m here if you need anything, I’d drive to the end of the universe to bring you back.”

That same day, Britain’s Got Talent auditions restarted in Blackpool following them being rescheduled after Payne’s death and former One Direction member Zayn Malik announced he would postpone the US leg of his tour.

Malik, who left The X Factor-formed boyband in 2015 before they went on hiatus in 2016, wrote on X that he was making the decision “given the heartbreaking loss experienced this week”.

“The dates are being rescheduled for January and I’ll post them as soon as it’s all set in the next few days,” he wrote. “Your tickets will remain valid for the new dates. Love you all and thank you for your understanding.”

He is set to perform in Edinburgh, London, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester throughout the final two months of this year, and a spokesman for the singer confirmed these dates are unchanged.

Other tribute events to Payne have been held at the Obelisco landmark in Buenos Aires, at the Tuileries Garden in the French capital, at the Stockholm music studio in Sweden where One Direction recorded albums, central Brussels, and the British Embassy in Russia.

Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.

Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death”.

It said five witnesses were questioned in order to reconstruct what happened at the hotel.

A joint statement from One Direction said they were “completely devastated” and will miss the singer “terribly”, adding the “memories we shared with him will be treasured forever”.