Spice Girls lead stars wishing Mel B a happy 50th birthday this week

Melanie Brown's former bandmates have wished the Leeds singer a happy 50th birthday in social media posts reflecting on their time in the Spice Girls.

- by Harriet Sutton

Brown was known as Scary Spice when she performed in the girl group, who released their first single, Wannabe, in 1996 and had other hits with songs including Stop and 2 Become 1.

The music star, who is also known as Mel B, wrote in a social media post on Thursday: "50 today!!! Thank you so much for all the love and messages I see you and appreciate you all soooo much."

Singers Paloma Faith, Una Healy and Alexandra Burke were among those wishing her a happy birthday in the comments section.

Elsewhere, Brown's bandmate Melanie Chisholm marked the singer's birthday with a post that included photos from their time in the Spice Girls.