One Direction's Niall Horan has apologised for using foul language.

The singer has come under fire this week for swearing at fans.

In a video posted on YouTube, the exhausted-looking singer was heard addressing a group of girls as a "shower of ****s" as he exited an airport in Ireland.

Niall has now taken to his Twitter account to show his remorse for using the offensive word.

"Really sorry if I caused any offence. It was just banter with fans who I think of more as mates," he wrote. "But I understand that it's not a word I should be using at all [sic]."

Loyal One Direction fans didn't seem to have been upset by the expression.

The user who uploaded the clip agreed with the star and wrote the incidence off as "banter".

"He's so nice, even though he called us a shower of ****s but hey. It was banter," she commented on the YouTube account.

"In Ireland 'shower of ****s' is used as 'a group of annoying people' but in a joking way. You say it all the time it really isn't offensive," another fan added.