ITV
ITV has been accused of vote-rigging in The X Factor. Reuters

ITV has been accused of vote rigging in The X Factor as fans allege that producers posted an article about Amelia Lily being voted back onto the show on a website an hour before the voting closed.

The Sun has reported that the story about the 16-year-old singer being voted in by viewers to replace Frankie Cocozza was posted on the STV website before the show had even kicked off.

The story, titled "X Factor return result: emotional Amelia Lily voted back in", was immediately taken off the website. But fans have posted screenshots of the article on various social networking sites, alleging vote fixing, the newspaper report said.

No official reaction from The X Factor or ITV to the claim is known yet.

Cocozza, 18, was booted off the reality show last week following his admission that he took cocaine six times at a party.