Justin Bieber visits Alder Hey Hospital cancer ward
Child cancer patients at a Merseyside hospital have received a visit from teenage singer Justin Bieber whose fans forced a road closure on Thursday.
Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital said that Mr Bieber spent about an hour on the oncology ward talking to young patients.
The 17-year-old is performing at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Friday.
A hospital spokesman said the visit had raised spirits on the ward where children undergo chemotherapy.
The spokesman said: "When people like Justin Bieber take the time to come and visit our patients it gives them a tremendous boost and really cheers everyone up.
"Patients on the oncology ward undergo rigorous treatments and you can actually see in the children what a difference it makes to have a visitor they admire from the world of entertainment or sport."
The Canadian singer, who was discovered on YouTube, is believed to have chatted individually with patients and signed autographs.
On Thursday more than 500 fans mobbed the singer's hotel in Liverpool city centre after news of his arrival swept across social networking sites.
Merseyside Police temporarily closed North John Street and a teenage girl was treated in hospital after falling in the crowd.