Johnny Marr has said that people who are obsessed with The Smiths reforming “need to go and find a hobby”.

The guitarist, who released his first solo album The Messenger in February of this year, has repeatedly been asked to comment on reports that the band he formed with Morrissey will ever get back together. At the NME Awards in 2012, he joked that the band would reform when the current Government steps down, but he has since insisted that fans of the group need to accept that there won’t be some “big happy ending” for the group.

Now, talking to the Japan Times, he has said: “If people get genuinely upset and frustrated that four men that last played together 25 years ago are doing other things, then those people need to go and find a hobby.

“If the band only split up two years ago it might be a different matter, but 25 years?” he added. “Come on. It’s a long time. If you like The Smiths, the records, photographs and memories are all plenty to be getting along with.”

Earlier this week, Marr told NME that he has already started work on his next solo album and that he could collaborate with Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner in the future. The singer said he has already recorded tracks that he thinks will make it onto his follow-up LP and revealed: “I’ve got four good songs already and I’m working on demos right now.”

Johnny Marr will tour the UK in October. He plays:

Gloucester Guildhall (October 4)

London Roundhouse (18)