Mel B and Stephen Belafonte
Mel B is divorcing her husband Stephen Belafonte after 10 years of marriage Craig Barritt/Getty Images

The messy divorce between Mel B and her soon-to-be ex husband Stephen Belafonte took an ugly turn this week when court papers alleged the former Spice Girl took cocaine in front of her children.

The singer, whose real name is Melanie Janine Brown, is locked in a divorce battle with Belafonte amid claims he assaulted her and that he fathered a child with former nanny Lorraine Gilles.

It was also alleged that Giles, who was paid more than $6,000 (£4,600) a month and worked for the family for years - had sex multiple times a day with the singer and engaged in threesomes with Belafonte during the ten-year marriage. Belafonte and the nanny denied the claims.

New papers seen by the Sun state 42-year-old Belafonte is concerned Brown is unable to care for his daughter Madison, 6, and step-daughter Angel, 10, whose dad is Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy. The pop star is also mum to Phoenix Chi Gulzar, 18, who she had with Dutch dancer Jimmy Gulzar.

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In the legal papers, he stated: "The biggest reason for my concern with respect to the safety of the children was due to the Petitioner's habitual and consistent addiction to and abuse of cocaine and alcohol.

"To make matters worse, my fear for the children's safety was amplified due to the fact that Petitioner had fired the children's nanny, who had been in the children's lives since 2010 0... And I did not want Petitioner using drugs and drinking around the children especially without anyone else present to care for the children.

"Petitioner's drinking and drug abuse had been a major issue throughout our marriage and was witnessed by the nanny, the children, and her own therapist, Dr Sophy."

In text messages that were sub submitted along with his declaration, Belafonte claims the entertainer went back on a promise to let him see Angel as well as Madison.

He wrote in the declaration: "'I am the step-parent to Angel and I have been the only father that Angel has ever truly known since her infancy.

"I did not want either Madison or Angel hurt or damaged by this divorce. The most important thing to me was to protect the well-being of our children."