Ed Sheeran turned down verified Tinder dating account

Ed Sheeran said he turned down the chance to have the first verified account on the dating app Tinder.

"I haven't got time to go on loads of dates," he said in an interview with Total Access. "I want to do this, be on radio, and talk about music."

He said the verification process worked in a similar way to Twitter and Facebook, with a blue tick confirming the identity of the account.

"It just sounds quite creepy doing that," he said in the interview.

"You're just using your celebrity status to hook up with chicks."

Tinder launched in 2012 and is a free-to-use smartphone app.

Users grant the app permission to access their Facebook account, from which Tinder obtains pictures and information about their interests.

People can then select other users they find attractive, or discard ones they don't.

Only when two users pick each other can they begin messaging one another.

A number of celebrities have revealed that they have Tinder accounts.

However, most say they disguise themselves.

Katy Perry, Lindsay Lohan and Lily Allen have all said they have downloaded the app.

Sean Rad, Tinder's co-founder, said the app had created more than 150 marriages.

"Every day we get hundreds and thousands of emails telling us either [about] friendships made on Tinder or engagements, or long-term relationships being created," he added.

This month members have complained of being spammed by fake profiles that urge them to download a video game.

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