One Direction star Louis Tomlinson pays emotional tribute to late mum on her birthday

Singer Louis Tomlinson has paid tribute to his mother on what would have been her 44th birthday, months after her death.

The One Direction star's mother Johannah Deakin died in December after suffering from an aggressive form of leukaemia.

Tomlinson, 25, wrote to his 24.3 million Twitter followers on Saturday: "Happy birthday Mum. I love you x."

Following her death, the pop star released the song Just Hold On - his debut solo single - in her honour and he performed it on The X Factor just days later.

His sister Lottie, a beauty blogger, also posted her own tribute to her more than 2.5 million Twitter followers.

She shared a picture of herself and her mother, and wrote: "Happy birthday Mum miss you and love you forever."

Mother-of-seven Mrs Deakin had been cared for at University College London hospital since May before being moved to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield for the last few weeks of her life at the end of last year.

She died on December 7.