Sarah HardingGirls Aloud star Sarah Harding has again provoked rumours that the girl group is set to split by making moves to launch a solo career.

A source told the Sun: “Sarah has had an eye on her future for a long time. She knows girl bands only have a short shelf-life and that the dream wouldn’t last for ever.”

“She has gone to the best in the business to see if they would be interested in masterminding her solo career. She has her heart set on being Britain’s answer to Kylie Minogue.”

But the teams behind Lily Allen and Natasha Bedingfield have passed on taking on Sarah’s solo efforts: “The response hasn’t been quite what she expected. She thought people would jump at the chance to take her on - but it hasn’t quite worked out like that.”

Sarah, who is the face of Ultimo lingerie, is not the only one of the five women eyeing escape plans: Nadine Coyle is said to be planning to launch herself as both a singer and actress in the US and Nicola Roberts has said she’s like to star in a soap opera.