Simon Cowell has halted Thursday’s auditions for Britain’s Got Talent following the tragic death of Liam Payne aged 31.

The Strip That Down hit-maker died in Argentina on Wednesday evening after a fall from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, police said.

A spokesman for the ITV programme’s producer, Freemantle UK, said: “Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, we have decided to postpone the Britain’s Got Talent auditions.

A call will be made later about whether the rest of this week’s auditions will also be postponed.

Applause Store, the ticket organiser for production, released a statement saying: “Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today’s auditions in Blackpool. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

Auditions for the new series of Britain’s Got Talent began on Tuesday in front of judges Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and KSI.

Payne plunged to his death from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood, according to authorities.

The circumstances around his death are still being investigated.

The worker said: “We need to send someone with urgency because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger because he is in a room with balcony, and we are afraid he could do something that threatens life.”

One Direction – which also consisted of members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – became one of the biggest pop groups in the world with five albums and four world tours after being put together by Simon Cowell on the X Factor in 2010.

Wolverhampton-born Payne is survived by his parents, Karen and Geoff, his sisters Nicola and Ruth, as well as his seven-year-old son Bear from a former relationship with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, 41.