Pictures: Ed Sheeran plays first Ipswich homecoming gig Published duration 24 August 2019

image copyright Zakary Walters image caption Up to 160,000 people are expected to watch the singer-songwriter over four nights in Ipswich

Ed Sheeran kicked off the final stop on his record-breaking world tour in front of his home fans.

The singer-songwriter told the crowd of 40,000 on Friday he was "so happy" to be ending his Divide tour over four nights in Ipswich.

He was supported by fellow Suffolk rockers The Darkness and a local act chosen through BBC Introducing.

By the end of the tour the 28-year-old will have spent 893 days on the road, eclipsing U2's previous 760-day mark.

image copyright Zakary Walters image caption Suffolk boy Ed grew up in Framlingham, about 20 miles from Ipswich, and still resides close by - when he is not on the road

Fans began queuing at dawn to get their spots at the front, with some having travelled thousands of miles to be there.

"This feels really, really weird and cool for me to be able to stand on stage in the place that I was brought up and that I live," said Sheeran.

"I did do the typical musician thing where you think that you have to move to LA, so I moved to LA and hated everything about it.

"But I've lived back here for sort of, like, seven years and I just love being here and I'm so happy to be able to end the tour here."

image caption Fans began queuing outside the gates hours before the show. Daniel Fuxa and Elizabeth Lara Villacis met through an Ed Sheeran fan group - and now live together.

image caption The huge stage was constructed over a number of days inside Ipswich's Chantry Park

image caption Local rapper Piers James took to the stage during the early evening

image caption Fans flooded in early to get their spots at the front in the evening sunshine

image caption Justin Hawkins and The Darkness, hailing from Lowestoft, tore through a set of rock numbers

image caption Ed played a number of his greatest hits, including Shape of You

image caption During the night Ed emerged in a specially-designed Ipswich Town football shirt

image copyright Zakary Walters image caption He thanked his fans who had travelled from all over the world, including New Zealand

image copyright Zakary Walters image caption A loud applause erupted as his show came to a climax

image caption The performance went down well with the 40,000 fans at Chantry Park