Lily Allen dropped from Newsnight following controversial Grenfell Tower claims on Channel 4 news

Lily Allen was dropped from her scheduled appearance on Newsnight following her controversial interview on Channel 4 News about the Grenfell Tower fire.

The pop star was axed from the BBC news programme just hours before she was due to appear on Thursday night, after sensationally claiming that she believed 150 people in the tragedy.

“I'm sad to say @BBCNewsnight just cancelled me for tonight's show. They have someone from the council coming on instead,” Allen tweeted ahead of the show.

Earlier in the evening, Allen accused the media of ‘downplaying’ the tragic west London blaze, claiming that she had inside information about the death toll.

“If we are talking about bringing reality into these people's lives, I think what people would really like is a more honest count of how many people have actually died in this event, how many people have been killed,” she told Jon Snow.

“I feel like the government are trying to micro manage people's grieving here.”

Allen added: “I have never in my entire life seen an event like this were the death count has been downplayed by the mainstream media.”

The singer, who grew up in the area and is still a resident, said that she has spoken to policemen and firemen in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“Seventeen? I'm sorry but I am hearing from people the figure is much closer to 150 - and that many of those people are children,” she said.

“They are off-the-record numbers I have been given from policemen and from firemen.”

She added: “There's a lot of anger here towards the council - how they dealt with people's concerns leading up to and after the event.”

Allen was just one of the stars who reached out to victims following Wednesday morning’s blaze, which tore through the 27-storey west London tower block.

The singer offered beds and food to those affected by the fire, tweeting: “If anyone need a bed or a lift, or tea tweet me and I'll follow back. #NorthKensington.”