ONE Direction fans rushed to the boyband's defence after footage was published appearing to show two of them smoking cannabis.

The video, appears to have been filmed by Louis Tomlinson during their tour in Peru and seems to show him sharing a joint with bandmate Zayn Malik.

Tomlinson can be heard saying: "So here we are, leaving Peru. Joint lit. Happy days!"

At one point on the video smoke is seen being blown across the car.

A spokesman for the band said yesterday: "This matter is in the hands of our lawyers."

Thousands of fans took to Twitter to defend the band with one who tweets as voguemalik saying: "Zayn and Louis are both in their 20s.

"They are old enough to take care of themselves and do what they want."