Simon Cowell and X Factor's One Direction coming to city

Simon Cowell will bring his X Factor boyband One Direction to Wolverhampton for an free open-air concert for up to 15,000 fans, it was revealed today.

The band, which features Wolverhampton's own Liam Payne, is expected to bring the city centre to a standstill when they perform next Tuesday.

Roads including Lichfield Street will be closed and a makeshift stage set up in Queen Square for the concert, which will rely on the band making it through to the next round of the competition at the weekend.

The band's mentor, music mogul Simon Cowell, will be in the city with the teenage heartthrobs, who have more than 73,000 followers on Twitter. It has been rumoured he could arrive by helicopter.

Discussions have been held in the past week about the concert between X Factor producers and leisure bosses. Wolverhampton Mayor, Councillor Malcolm Gwinnett, said: "This is a massive coup for Wolverhampton.

"There could be up to 15,000 fans. We will have lots of security in place."