Niall Horan’s father has revealed that his son is sometimes scared by the amount of attention he receives.

Bobby Horan, who split from Niall’s mum Maura in 1999, told the Daily Mirror that the One Direction star can start to feel overwhelmed when he’s mobbed by fans:

“There are hordes of young girls around him, and not much room to breathe anywhere. He says it can be frightening. Coming out of airports and girls crowding around their cars, he’s started to get really claustrophobic.”

The 51-year-old, who works at the meat counter in Tesco, added that the boyband singer enjoys coming home to Mullingar in County Westmeath as it offers him escape from his usual hectic lifestyle:

“When he comes home he just wants to be Niall and leave Niall from One Direction behind. I know it’s pretty hard for him to get away but here in town ­everyone’s very proud of him but no one bothers him.

“He’s through the door and straight to his room and when we do talk he does it while he’s strumming his guitar, and you have to talk to him over the chords. It’s very funny but that’s the way he is.

“He’s not a big drinker but we often go for a pint when he’s home. He’s got very good friends here... he even flew one of them, Sean ­Cullen, out to ­America. They grew up together.”

Bobby also admitted that he appreciates how fortunate his son is to be in such a position:

“Obviously he didn’t get any school qualifications because of The X Factor but he’s a very intelligent boy.

“Niall’s friends have no hope when they finish because of the economy, it’s very likely they’ll end up on the dole. He’s now in a completely different league to the people from here. We’re very conscious of how lucky he is to be in this position.”