kerry katonaKerry Katona has been declared bankrupt after failing to deliver the final instalment of her £417,000 tax bill.

The High Court’s Mr Registrar Nicholls agreed to HM Revenue and Customs request for the declaration after initially giving Kerry’s representive extra time to come up with the remaining £82,000.

The petition for bankruptcy was initially made in January and had already been to court four times, but a fortnight ago Mr Registrar Nicholls gave noon today as a final deadline for the money. The deadline was extended until 1pm to give her legal team an extra hour for a cheque to clear and be brought to the court but at just before the final deadline, her lawyer Luke Harris said he was “not in a position to assist further”.

In June, Kerry’s legal team claimed she was expecting payments of £472,000 before the end of August, £291,000 of which was for work already completed.

Kerry first found fame in girl group Atomic Kitten but her pregnancy - with Westlife star Brian McFadden’s child - caused her to leave the band just before they scored their first No 1 single in 2001. Kerry and Brian later married and had a second daughter but divorced in 2004 after Kerry enjoyed a second wave of success due to her winning that year’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. She went onto marry former taxi driver Mark Croft and the couple welcomed daughter Heidi last February, followed by son Max in April this year.