Niall Horan has personally thanked One Direction fans after they managed to break VEVO's 24-hour record.

As previously reported, fans' perseverance paid off on Tuesday (July 23) after VEVO announced that One Direction's 'Best Song Ever' clip racked up the most amount of views ever in a video's first 24 hours online.

The number of hits came to a staggering 12.3m as the British boyband eclipsed Miley Cyrus' previous record.

Niall Horan took to Twitter soon after the news came through to thank fans personally for their efforts as the group celebrate their third anniversary.

The quintet were pieced together on the UK X Factor in 2010 after the judges felt the solo contestants would work better in a group.

They have since become one pop's top acts and are the X Factor's biggest success story.