Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen has branded One Direction ''d***heads''.

The rocker accused the 'Live While We're Young' hitmakers of insulting him and his musician pals when they bumped into the boy band in their Birmingham hotel lobby, then retaliated by making fun of the boys' perfectly coiffed hair.

He tweeted: ''Fun fact: Was just insulted by that s****y boy band#OneDirection in the lobby of our hotel this morning! Greetings Birmingham! (sic)''

Wolfgang added: ''No joke. That ACTUALLY happened. That group of kids in #OneDirection were d***heads to @IIEROCKII@GWDrums and I... They must call themselves that because all of their hair points in #OneDirection (sic)''

@IIEROCKII is Creed and Tremonti guitarist Eric Friedman, while @GWDrums is the twitter account of Tremonti drummer Garrett Whitlock.

Garrett later weighed in: ''had a run in with some boy band in the hotel lobby. no worries. I can't take a insult from someone who doesn't even write there own tunes (sic)''.

Wolfgang - the son of guitar legend EDDIE VAN HALEN - has been in the music business since the Van Halen family formed the band 1972.

They released their twelfth studio album, 'A Different Kind Of Truth', in February.

The band has been keeping a low profile since Eddie underwent emergency surgery for Diverticulitis, a digestive disorder of the colon, in August.