A loving tweet sent to Harry Styles by Louis Tomlinson has returned to Twitter after vanishing recently.

As previously reported, fans of One Direction were in a flap after the tweet - sent in 2011 - was seemingly deleted from the social networking website.

The tweet, which had been shared across the world by legions of fans, read: "Always in my heart @Harry_Styles. Yours sincerely, Louis."

Some fans presumed it was the work of the band's management amid speculation that the two singers may be in a relationship.

However, several other high profile tweets - including posts by Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber - disappeared around the same time.

Twitter have now confirmed that it was the work of a bug and that they have been investigating why it reared its head.