Internet leak forces early debut for One Direction song

One Direction (Rex Features)

One Direction rushed the radio debut of their new single forward to today after the track was leaked online.

The song, "Live While We're Young", was brought forward by four days after an unauthorised "poor quality" version of the video appeared this morning.

The band's bosses at Syco and Sony decided to act by in response to the leak.

The chart-toppers told fans about the change with a message on Twitter.

A statement on their behalf said: "The band did not feel that it was right or appropriate for the fans to hear the track as this illegal upload, so they have responded quickly."

A message from the group said: "We wanted our fans to see the video and hear the single in the proper way so we've moved the premiere to tonight. We're really excited about LWWY - we've worked really hard on it and we can't wait for everyone to see and hear it."

The video was being aired at 5pm today on radio and the video was being screened at 6pm, with the release due on 30 September.

The track is the first single to be taken from second album Take Me Home, which is out on 12 November.