A scene from the music video of These Days.

British pop veterans Take That scored their first chart-topping single for six years on Sunday, beating Do They Know it’s Christmas?, a song intended to raise money to fight the spread of Ebola in West Africa, into second place.

The UK’s Official Charts Company said Take That’s These Days sold just 2,500 more copies than the charity single by Band Aid 30, a collaboration between well-known British artistes that aimed to repeat the success of a 1984 song that raised millions of pounds to fight famine in Africa.

The narrow success gave Take That their 12th career number one, 21 years after their first chart success.

‘We will reunite’

They went from a five-piece to a four-piece, and lost another member this year, but Take That will reunite, they have said – they are just not sure when.

Jason Orange dropped out of the band in September, while Robbie Williams has been an intermittent presence in recent years, having left the group in 1995, setting the wheels in motion for the band’s split.

Now the three-piece, who enjoyed chart success yesterday with their latest single These Days taking the number-one spot, have said they will soon reunite with Williams, and hinted at plans for a 25th anniversary tour in three years.

Lead singer Gary Barlow told the Sun’s Bizarre column as they guest edited a special edition: “Take That is five people. Exactly when they come back is up to them.”

Howard Donald said of their milestone in 2017: “We want to do something with the five of us. That will be great.”

These Days has become their 12th number-one single and their first chart-topper in six years after 2008’s Greatest Day.