Two die-hard One Direction fans have been issued an official apology by the BBC after they won a competition to meet the lads and attend one of their recent concerts.

Hannah Hastings, 20, and Louisa Marsden, 21 (pictured left), were promised amazing seats at the boyband's Belfast gig along with the opportunity to meet them afterwards after winning a contest that was organised by BBC Radio 1.

The girls paid £350 of their own money to travel to the venue and put themselves up in a hotel for the night, but were utterly disappointed when they arrived at the Odyssey arena to discover they could barely see the stage from their seats and weren't granted any backstage access as promised.

Hastings explained: "We were so excited when we won - we are both massive fans of the band and especially Harry Styles. We heard the competition for tickets being advertised on Radio 1 so I phoned up and got through."

"It was specifically stated by Radio 1 DJ Gemma Cairney that the prize offered the opportunity to meet and greet the One Direction boys themselves. I went live on air and correctly answered questions about which cities in Britain One Direction were playing. But the seats were nothing special at all and we were a long way from the front."

A BBC spokesperson has since made a formal apology to the girls and have given them signed One Direction merchandise as compensation: "The error in which a Radio 1 DJ mistakenly referred to the prize as a “meet and greet” was corrected on air and the nature of the prize was clearly communicated throughout the day."

“The prize of tickets to the sold-out One Direction concert was provided in accordance with the terms and conditions of the competition. As a gesture of good will, we have also arranged for the winner to receive personalised signed merchandise from the band."

Watch One Direction answer questions at their recent concert in Manchester here: