Ed Sheeran is engaged to girlfriend Cherry Seaborn

Singer Ed Sheeran has announced he is engaged to girlfriend Cherry Seaborn.

The Grammy award-winning artist posted a photo on Instagram of him kissing her with the caption: "Got myself a fiancé just before new year.

"We are very happy and in love, and our cats are chuffed as well xx"

Sheeran, 26, met 24-year-old Cherry at Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk.

She then left the UK to study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina before working at an accountancy firm in New York.

The pair embarked on a long-distance relationship in mid-2015.

In December 2016 it was revealed she had moved back to the UK to be with him as the relationship became more serious.

At the end of last year Sheeran revealed he would like to marry Cherry and confessed he would "love" to start a family with her.

"Yeah, potentially. I would like some kids," he told an Australian radio show when asked if his relationship could be a "marriage thing".

Cherry is believed to have been the inspiration behind two of his hits, Shape Of You and Perfect.