Recent reports suggested Simpson could be rejoining his former bandmates Matt Willis and James Bourne, and now the musicians have confirmed they are working on new music and plotting a 2016 tour.

Simpson left the band in 2005, and was not involved when Bourne and Willis joined forces with MCFly to form the pop supergroup MCBusted, but he has now mended his relationship with his bandmates.

"A year ago James and I got together and just started hanging out," Simpson says, "And it felt really different, somehow, to how it had 10 years ago. And the idea crept into my head after all that time apart: what would Busted look like today?"

The band's split in 2005 shocked fans as it came less than a year after Busted won two BRIT Awards, marking the success of hit songs like Crashed The Wedding and Who's David.

Bassist Matt Willis feels Busted has more to offer fans after the band's time at the top of the charts was cut short by the split more than a decade ago.

"For me, there's a huge sense of unfinished business," Willis says, "I always thought in my heart we'd do Busted again, but that it was just a matter of when and how."

Busted are booked to play 13 tour dates around the U.K., beginning with a concert on 11 May (16) at London's Wembley Arena.