Liam Payne’s heartbroken father has been warned he could have to wait ten days for permission to take his son’s body home.

Geoff Payne arrived in Buenos Aires last week to formally identify his son and bring him home after the 31-year-old former One Direction star fell to his death from a hotel balcony.

The 66-year-old motor mechanic visited the morgue where his son is being held and spoke with the Argentine Ministry of Justice officials who are investigating the circumstances around the tragedy.

He also visited the boutique CasaSur Palermo Hotel where his son died and thanked fans for their tributes and vigil.

A post-mortem found that the singer died from multiple injuries consistent with falling 45ft from the balcony of his suite in Palermo district of the city.

But prosecutors are treating his death as ‘inconclusive’ while they await the results of toxicological examinations.

And last night, Prosecutor Andrés Esteban Madrea, the lead investigator, warned Mr Payne it could be ten days before the examination results come back from the laboratory and that he would not be able to take his son’s body home before.

‘Geoff has been told it might take ten days for the tests to be completed and for him to take Liam home,’ a family friend revealed.

‘He is finding the whole situation really tough. Geoff totally heart-broken at losing his son.

‘But he has vowed to do right by Liam and will not go home without him.

‘It is the uncertainty of not knowing when this ordeal will be over is what he is finding very difficult to deal with.

‘The Argentine officials say they expect the results to take ten days, but it might be a lot less time than that.’

Last night Mr Payne met with the prosecutor who is leading the investigation into his son’s death, the head of the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14, Andrés Esteban Madrea.

Mr Madrea gave Mr Payne an update on the progress of the case and discussed whether the details of the cases should be kept private.