Madonna 'moves locals for Malawi school'

Madonna's plans to build a school in Malawi have reportedly resulted in around 200 villagers being forced to move home.

The 'Miles Away' singer is believed to have paid nearly $115,000 (£73,360) in compensation to former residents of Blantyre, after they were made to relocate by government officials in order to clear room for her proposed $15m (£9.5m) Raising Malawi Girls Academy.

A commissioner's office official said: "The district commissioner for Lilongwe told the villagers to move off the land and make way for the construction of the academy because it was government land reserved for development projects."

Locals had originally threatened to oppose the project - which seeks to offer education to around 500 impoverished children - unless they were offered more money, says BBC News.

However, their demands were apparently rejected by senior officials for Madonna's charity, who maintained that the villagers had been given "generous compensation" and had no further cause for complaint.

A local chief has since advised the residents to "accept the reality as there is nothing we can do". The group have now been relocated to other villages in the region.

Madonna has so far adopted two children from Malawi - Mercy, 5, and David, 4.