One Direction's Louis Tomlinson tweets picture of son Freddie

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has shared the first picture of his newborn son Freddie online.

The 24 year old announced the birth at the weekend and thanked his 21.3million fans for their support in Twitter posts on Wednesday.

The singer posted a black and white photo of him holding his son, accompanied by the words: "Meet my little lad, Freddie."

He hinted the child will have his surname, tweeting simply "Freddie Tommo" before following it up by saying: "Thank you so much for the all nice messages."

The selfie shows the star holding the boy, wearing a striped babygrow, to his bare, tattooed chest.

On Saturday Tomlinson said: "I'm pleased to say my baby son was born yesterday. He is healthy and pretty amazing. I'm very happy."

He briefly dated Freddie's mother, Los Angeles-based stylist Briana Jungwirth, in May 2015 after he broke up with his long-term girlfriend Eleanor Calder.

News of the pregnancy broke in August, although there has never been an official statement.

He is the first member of the boy band to become a father.