London, Mar 12 (IANS): British band One Direction (1D) has removed their status of inviting tattoo entries by fans on social networking sites - Facebook and Twitter - after being accused of encouraging body art.

The band, which comprises of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, had asked fans to send entries of innovative ways to get One Direction inked on them.

The messages posted by the band read: "Have a real 1D tattoo? Show us! Submit a 90 sec YouTube video to 1d3dfan@gmail.com and show us why you should be in the 1D 3D movie."

However, the status was removed from the site after it was alleged that it will force young fans to undergo the needle so they can get noticed by the teen sensations, reports dailymail.co.uk

The legal age of getting tattoos in Britain is 18.

"This tweet was posted in error and has now been removed. One Direction do not want to encourage any of their fans to get 1D tattoos," Simon Jones, spokesperson of the band, said.