X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke offered to give up one of her kidneys to her ill mother in a bid to save her life, it emerged yesterday.

Melissa Bell, from Islington, north London, said she refused the offer because she did not want her daughter to sacrifice her chances of having a family - a possible side effect of the operation.

She told the Evening Stand-ard: “I need a new kidney. Alexandra offered me hers and was very serious about it, but if you take a kidney from a woman who hasn’t had babies, you take away her chance of a family. That’s more than robbery, it’s downright wicked.”

Ms Bell, who is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, said another of her four children, David, 23, has offered his kidney and doctors are carrying out tests to see if it is suitable.

Ms Burke won the reality show in 2008 and her debut single Hallelujah subsequently set a record as the fastest-selling download single yet across the whole of Europe.