Justin Bieber visits Alder Hey Hospital cancer ward - BBC News

<div readability="56.1048332199"> <span class="story-date">&#13; <span class="date">11 March 2011</span>&#13; <span class="time-text">Last updated at </span><span class="time">15:59 ET</span> &#13; </span> <p class="introduction">Child cancer patients at a Merseyside hospital have received a visit from teenage singer Justin Bieber whose fans forced a road closure on Thursday.</p> <p>Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital said that Mr Bieber spent about an hour on the oncology ward talking to young patients.</p> <p>The 17-year-old is performing at the Liverpool Echo Arena on Friday.</p> <p>A hospital spokesman said the visit had raised spirits on the ward where children undergo chemotherapy.</p> <p>The spokesman said: "When people like Justin Bieber take the time to come and visit our patients it gives them a tremendous boost and really cheers everyone up.</p> <p>"Patients on the oncology ward undergo rigorous treatments and you can actually see in the children what a difference it makes to have a visitor they admire from the world of entertainment or sport."</p> <p>The Canadian singer, who was discovered on YouTube, is believed to have chatted individually with patients and signed autographs.</p> <p>On Thursday more than 500 fans mobbed the singer's hotel in Liverpool city centre after news of his arrival swept across social networking sites.</p> <p>Merseyside Police temporarily closed North John Street and a teenage girl was treated in hospital after falling in the crowd.</p> </div>