One Direction fans 'outdo each other'

One Direction's fans are in "competition" with each other by writing a series of "explicit" tweets in their defence.

Twitter was ablaze with aggressive posts from One Direction fans last week after GQ magazine unveiled five individual covers with the face of each band member on.

The tagline under Harry Styles' profile read; "He's up all night to get lucky", which prompted a flurry of angry tweets from defensive fans.

Psychologist Dr Jane McCarthy believes the British group's fan base are resorting to extreme measures to express their devotion to the band.

"The fans on Twitter are seeing if they can outdo each other," she explained to British magazine Heat.

"They're in competition to see who can be the most defensive of their heroes by writing the most explicit tweet."

Many fans took to Twitter after Harry's cover was revealed to vent their frustration at the tongue-in-cheek tagline.

While one angry user posted: "I'M F**KING PI**ED AT HOW THEY PORTRAYED YOU, YOU ARE NOT A GOD DAMN MAN W***E, YOU ARE A CUPCAKE," another threateningly wrote: "I'M GONNA BOMB YOUR HEADQUARTERS! DIRECTIONERS ARE THE WORST FANDOM TO MESS WITH! F**K YOU GUYS! (sic)."

One Direction have previously explained that encounters with their overzealous fans have caused problems.

"We don't get to see [the fans] as much as we'd like to anymore because of security issues and stuff," Zayn Malik said.