One Direction star Liam Payne in charity gift plea

Generous Wolverhampton X Factor star Liam Payne has asked his fans not to shower him with gifts when he turns 18 on Monday – and donate their cash to charity instead.

The One Direction singer, who recently splashed out £20,000 to buy his father Geoff a BMW has again decided others are more deserving of the riches resulting from his new-found fame.

He wrote on social networking site Twitter: "For my birthday I would like everyone to visit cancerresearchuk.org and donate as much as they can to help fight cancer."

The move was hailed by supporters who contacted the Express & Star to praise the Bushbury teenager.