A 17-year-old lad popping into HMV in Bradford a couple of weeks before Christmas… nothing very special about that.

Unless the teenager in question is Zayn Malik, who was bringing his buddies from X Factor finalists One Direction to his home town for a flying visit to meet fans.

The city centre had a taste of what Beatlemania must have been like at its height, as hundreds of mainly young female fans packed into Broadway to await the arrival of the boy-band.

It was only announced at 10am that they would be turning up, and the 250 wristbands set aside on a first-come, first-served basis at the music shop were snapped up in minutes.

For every one of the lucky few there must have been four out of five fans who turned up just desperate for a glimpse of the boys, who were due at 4pm.

Excitement mounted as the sky darkened, and some bemused shoppers who passed by must have wondered what was going on as chants of “Zayn!” and “One Direction!” rent the air.

Security men had to keep the fans back behind metal barriers and when the black 4x4 with smoked-out windows finally turned up at a shade before 4.30pm, it’s no exaggeration to say the crowd went wild.

One Direction were mobbed by paparazzi and screaming girls, with the loudest and most vociferous cheers reserved for Zayn.

Although they’re already getting a taste of fame thanks to their various red-carpet outings while the TV talent show has been running for the past few weeks, the boys – Zayn, of East Bowling, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles – looked a little bowled over by the reception.

As the screaming increased in pitch the security guards hustled the lads into the emptied HMV store, where they were to meet the 250 lucky fans.

We managed to get an exclusive chat with Zayn – looking chilled in black jeans and a red knitted top – before they met their admirers.

“I can’t believe it,” he said, looking visibly shaken by the reception. “It’s just crazy.”

Zayn, who lost his grandfather last week and had to miss some rehearsals, said the support from Bradford has been phenomenal. “It’s nice to get support from anywhere,” he said. “But it means so much to me to get so many people from Bradford behind us.”

Now they’re in the final on Saturday, facing off against Cher Lloyd, Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson. Can they win it? With typical modesty, Zayn said: “We’re going to try our hardest. I just hope Bradford people stay behind us and vote for us on the night.”

I asked him how this was different to the last time he’d visited that particular branch in Bradford. He said: “I was just a teenager in to buy a CD,” he laughed. “I never thought anything like this would ever happen.”

Going off the reaction yesterday, it’s something Zayn Malik will probably have to get used to.