The One Direction lads don’t get much time off from their hectic schedule of touring and recording their new album, but as band member Niall Horan has revealed, even their downtime is fraught and tense, given they are followed everywhere by hoards of screaming fans.

However, while Niall said that such mobs can at times be “inconvenient”, to his credit, he also added that without their fans, 1D would have been something of a damp squib.

Speaking to MTV recently about what he and his fellow One Directioners get up to on their days off, Niall explained that even simple errands have to planned in advance.

He said, “You have to go about it the right way. Obviously it’s not just the case of ‘Oh, I’m gonna go to this place for lunch.’

“You have to think about it for a bit. You can do all the regular things, it just becomes a struggle…”

Niall added, “The other day I wanted to go to Lids to buy a hat when we were in Atlanta…

“And I was in there with two security guys and I got absolutely mobbed in the mall.

“There were like, two or three hundred girls following me around the shopping center.”

But remarking that, “It’s all good,” he added, “Them kind of things; it’s not the most convenient for everyone, but it’s all good.

“It’s all a part of what we do. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.”

As to his plans when he gets back to the UK after the boys’ current tour is over, Niall said, “We’ve got 10 days off and [I'm] just literally just going to chill.

“A couple of my friends are coming to London and we’re just gonna chill for the week.

“We very rarely get time off, so it’s good to be able to just relax for a bit. We’ve been all going since February, really.”