Suffolk singer Ed Sheeran has made chart history by becoming the first artist to be numbers one and two in the chart simultaneously with his two new singles.

Sheeran, 25, marked his comeback after a year away from the music scene last week by releasing tracks Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill – the latter, which refers to Framlingham Castle, described by the singer as a “love song for Suffolk”.

Shape Of You has gone straight to number one in the singles chart followed by Castle On The Hill in second place, with total sales of 421,000 across the tracks in the past week, according to the Official Charts Company.

He has had the biggest opening week for an artist since Adele’s record-breaking November 2015 return with her song Hello, which had combined sales of 332,000 in the first seven days.

Sheeran - who is gearing up to release his third album, Divide - said: “I’m incredibly chuffed that they’ve gone straight in at number one and two today.

“Both tracks mean a huge amount to me so it really is amazing to see them go to the top of the chart together on the first week.

“I can’t wait for everyone to hear the rest of the album in March.”

Shape Of You is Sheeran’s third number one single in the UK - he topped the charts with Sing and Thinking Out Loud in 2014.

Sheeran has achieved a new one-week streaming record, too, with each song individually beating the streaming record previously held by Drake’s One Dance, which garnered 8.9 million plays in one week last summer.

Sheeran’s success means he has finally toppled chart champions Clean Bandit off the top spot, ending their nine-week reign with Rockabye.

Earlier this week, Sheerans said he wants to perform live at the home of Ipswich Town, Portman Road.

The 25-year-old did not confirm any dates, but outlined his strong desire to play at the 30,000-seater stadium.

Ed said: “I really, really want to play Portman Road. But you get tied into deals. If you’re playing Wembley, that’s like your east and south of England gig.

“So I will definitely play Portman Road at some point. That’s one thing I really want to do.”