One Direction ‘threw ice cream at fan’

One Direction's Louis Tomlinson has recalled a weird fan encounter that involved "splatting ice cream" across her face.

The British band have seen their popularity sky rocket across the globe thanks to their hit debut album Up All Night. Louis - who is joined in the group by Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik - says their female fans can be a little overzealous at times, which leads to some unusual behaviour.

"In Italy, there was a girl who recognised us and we had a picture taken with her. Then out of pure randomness I decided to splat my ice cream on her face - and she kept it there," Louis recalled to OK! magazine.

"I saw her two hours later at our signing and she still hadn't wiped it!"

One Direction's female fans have been compared to those who used to follow fellow British group the Beatles around. Liam has joked the underwear throwing is most hazardous to their health.

"Yes, we've nearly fallen over knickers on stage," he quipped, before bandmate Harry jokingly added: "I like knickers."