BOYBAND The Wanted have announced they are to split up.

The group, including Tonge Moor's Tom Parker and former Bolton School pupil Max George, will go their separate ways following their upcoming Word of Mouth Tour.

The band’s management said the news will not permanently mark the end for the band, which also features Nathan Sykes, Siva Kaneswaran and Jay McGuiness, as they plan to work together in the future.

The statement said: “This tour will be their last for a while as Tom, Max, Jay, Siva and Nathan have collectively decided to take time to pursue personal endeavours following the tour's conclusion.

“The band wants to stress to their fans that they will continue on as The Wanted and look forward to many successful projects together in the future.

“They thank their fans for their continued love and support and look forward to seeing them on tour.”

Former Thornleigh Salesian College pupil Tom, who owns clothing line Hashtagz with girlfriend Kelsey Hardwick, wrote on Twitter: “Just want to say...It's a break, not the end. You can't get rid of us that easily haha!”

The group formed in 2009 and were signed to Universal Music before their debut album, The Wanted, was released in October 2010, peaking at number four in the charts.

The album spawned three top 20 singles, including their debut All Time Low which went in at number one.

In early 2012, The Wanted began to see success in the United States and Canada, with their hit single Glad You Came selling three million copies in the US and hitting number three in the American singles charts.

In June 2013, their reality television series The Wanted Life launched on E! with the cameras following the lads in Los Angeles while they recorded their third album and prepared for the world tour.

Along the way they have also found themselves embroiled in spats with global superstars One Direction, had to delay the release of their latest album and cancelled all their European tour dates for 2014, citing “unforeseeable changes in our scheduling”.

The group, whose hits include Chasing The Sun and Glad You Came, have just released latest single Glow In The Dark and will call into Manchester’s Phones 4u Arena with their Word of Mouth Tour on March 18 before it ends in Oklahoma, US, on May 17.