Arrangements for Liam Payne’s funeral are close to being finalised – with his body expected to soon be repatriated ahead of a large-scale service set to be announced imminently, MailOnline has learned.

Investigators probing his ‘unexplained’ death in Buenos Aires are expected to release Liam’s body to his heart-broken father Geoff this week and British consulate officials have made plans for the repatriation.

Once the body of the 31-year-old star is back in the UK from the Argentine capital it’s expected this will be followed by the announcement of a lavish funeral expected to be attended by hundreds of mourners.

‘Liam’s body is expected to be flown home any day now,’ a close friend of the former One Direction star has told MailOnline. ‘Arrangements are in place for that now and once his body is back in Britain the next step will be to announce the funeral plan.

A lavish service of remembrance is expected to take place a few days after the repatriation.

A close friend told MailOnline: ‘Liam will have a very big send off, quite probably at a large cathedral somewhere close to his heart.

‘Liam was so loved by so many people, there will obviously be enormous demand and so the service will necessarily be a huge affair.’

‘The details are still under wraps until they are definitively signed off but should be announced very soon.’

Thousands more well-wishers than can be accommodated are expected to gather outside the venue to celebrate the life of the much-loved star.

The ex-One Direction singer died after falling from the third-floor balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel last month.

Two days after his death, Liam’s body was taken in by the British cemetery in the Argentinian capital as investigations into the circumstances around his death began.

A post-mortem in the wake of his death determined that the 31-year-old’s cause of

death on 16 October was from the head injuries that he sustained during his fall.

Reports in the Argentine press claim that the necessary paperwork to allow for the singer’s body to return home have been completed.

Geoff Payne was initially been warned by investigators upon his arrival in Buenos Aires that it would take up to 15 days before all their examinations would be completed.

Just last week local police raided the Casa Sur Hotel where the fall occurred as they followed up on allegations that staff had sold Liam drugs in the hours leading up to his death.

Prosecutors have since explored the theory that Liam was in ‘a state of semi or total unconsciousness’ during an apparent drug-fuelled episode on the morning of his death.

Liam had been in Argentina with long-term girlfriend Kate Cassidy, with the influencer sharing in a touching online tribute to her boyfriend that they had planned to tie the knot next year.

Kate had left the couple’s holiday to return home to the US two days prior to Liam’s death.