Niall Horan is being bombarded with abusive text messages about his family.

Explaining his ordeal in a series of tweets, Niall said: "For the last two weeks I've been receiving messages off a group of fans, they have drowned my phone in messages, keeping me awake at night

"But the worst part is. They have been nothing but abusive . Saying things you wouldn't even believe about me and my family

"And saying the worst things ever about my little nephew. Thank god I'm not the kind of person who thinks into stuff like this

"But I just think it's crazy how we let people away with things like this

"And the sad thing is . As I tweet this they are in the group chat laughing at me (sic)."

However, Niall insisted he is fine but wanted to bring attention to the nasty messages because it happens to other people too.

He said: "Don't worry about me .im the most carefree , laid back person around. But I'm just signalling it, because this is happening to others (sic)."

Meanwhile, Niall and his One Direction bandmates, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, are currently on an extended hiatus and the star has reportedly been using his free time to write solo material.

Wayne Hector, who wrote 1D songs including 'Steal My Girl', 'Best Song Ever' and 'History', recently said: "We are writing together but he wants to do it for himself and not other people at the moment. We have no idea where we’ll end up."

Niall is also using the break to focus on his love of sports and has set up a golf management company with One Direction's management Modest.

A source said: "It's well known Niall loves golf and has been learning from the best out on tour with Rory McIlroy. Now he wants to discover exciting new players and give them his backing.

"It's early days but he's committed."