Kerry Katona 'will stay bankrupt'

Kerry Katona's bankrupt status will not be lifted for the foreseeable future, it has been claimed.

According to The Mirror, the reality TV star had hoped that her financial woes would end this month, but has been hit with a new setback after the Insolvency Service won a bid to have her planned discharge "suspended indefinitely" on July 14.

Katona was declared bankrupt at London's High Court in August 2008 after she failed to pay the remaining £82,000 of a £417,000 tax bill.

It has now been alleged that the status could remain in place until next year, meaning that the ex-singer will continue to make regular payments to her creditors.

Though it would not comment specifically on Katona's case, the Insolvency Service confirmed: "For a bankrupt to have their discharge suspended, something serious would have had to have been brought to our attention."

Katona received an official police caution for possessing cocaine earlier this week.