Sharon Osbourne has faced mounting criticism after branding the parents of Madeline McCann "insane" for their actions on the night the three-year-old went missing. Speaking on her chat show, The Talk, Osbourne and fellow panellists were discussing whether parents should leave young children home alone for short periods.

The conversation was prompted by a thread on the parenting website, Mumsnet, that included a mother asking whether it was OK to leave a 10-month-old sleeping home alone while she went quickly to a store 50 yards away. Osbourne did not think the actions were acceptable parenting: "It is like so many things happen in just a second. If you leave a candle on and the curtain blows on it and it caught on fire…there is no way in a million years that you would ever do that."

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In thinly veiled attack on Kate and Gerry McCann, Osbourne said: "I will tell you a very quick story. There was a husband and wife on holiday in Portugal. They left their baby in the room sleeping, sleeping while they went to dinner in the restaurant. While they were in the resort their baby was taken. And it is like, 'Oh but we can see everything that is going on,' and it is, like, insane."

Speaking to the Mirror, friends of the couple said Osbourne's comments were "ignorant", "ill-informed" and "disappointing". "Kate and Gerry have never forgiven themselves and this should not have been aired in a random way, as it ­apparently was," said the friend, "It's based on ignorance of the true facts. While she's entitled to her view, she should keep it to herself."

Madeline McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007. Her parents were at a restaurant nearby with other parents and were taking turns to check back on the children when she went missing.

Sharon Osbourne's marriage to Black Sabbath singer, Ozzy Osbourne, is reportedly on the rocks after the musician was allegedly caught having an affair with a hairstylist.