One Direction has become the first UK pop group to debut at number one on the US album chart − and called it “a dream come true”.

Their first release Up All Night has rocketed into the top spot on the Billboard chart.

The boy band − Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson − was formed by TV’s The X Factor and signed to Simon Cowell’s label Syco. They are still coming to terms with the success and Mr Styles said: “We simply cannot believe that we are number one in America.

“It’s beyond a dream come true for us. We want to thank each and every one of our fans in the US who bought our album and we would also like to thank the American public for being so supportive of us.”

The previous highest entry for a UK group’s first album was number six, when the Spice Girls entered the US charts with their album Spice in 1997.

It eventually climbed to the top spot after 14 weeks.

One Direction has been conquering the US with a promotional tour in recent weeks.

More than 10,000 fans are estimated to have turned up to see the teen stars’ first live TV performance in the US when they appeared on NBC’s Today Show in Rockefeller Plaza, New York. They have also been mobbed at album signings during their jaunt round the US. The group sold 176,000 copies of the album in the US in the space of a week. It topped the digital charts within minutes of its release last week.

One Direction have already found huge fame among teen fans in the UK after starring in the 2010 X Factor series and finishing third.