Ed Sheeran will be supported by The Darkness during his upcoming UK and European tour.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran

The 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' rockers - made up of Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain and Rufus Tiger Taylor - will play before the 27-year-old singer takes to the stage when his upcoming 'Divide' tour culminates at Roundhay Park in Leeds on August 16 and 17 and Ipswich's Chantry Park between August 23 and 26.

The quartet took to Twitter to celebrate the new announcement and wrote: "We're happy to announce we'll be appearing with fellow Suffolk gentleman @edsheeran on his UK dates!

"Many thanks for inviting us along! For remaining tickets visit edsheeran.com #Suffolk #edsheeran #thedarkness"

The upcoming dates - which will kick off in May - will go throughout Europe for a run of huge stadium shows and the 'Shape of You' hitmaker will be joined by special guests James Bay and Zara Larsson.

Meanwhile, the announcement comes after Ed recently launched a new range of acoustic guitars.

The 27-year-old singer/songwriter confirmed his collaboration with Lowden Guitars in Downpatrick and the 'Perfect' singer is aiming to create affordable quality guitars in the hope of inspiring more young people to learn how to play.

In a statement, Ed said: "There are fewer guitar bands and fewer artists using guitars now, and not as many kids picking up guitars.

"That is something I would like to change by getting these great quality guitars, made in Ireland, into kids' hands and encouraging them to learn and progress.

"To be able to work in tandem with a guitar company like Lowden to create a whole different concept has been a really cool experience."

Last year, it was announced that Sheeran's 'Divide' tour had made a staggering £341.7 million after selling 4,860,482 tickets across 53 cities and 94 shows.