A celebrity adopted a child from the same African orphanage as Madonna - but gave the youngster back two months later.

Home of Hope director Rev Thomson Chipeta, who refused to name the star, is now concerned that the children he cares for will suffer because of the backlash following Madonna's decision to adopt Malawi orphan David Banda.

"We had a phone call from supporters in the UK on Monday asking what was going on," he told the News of the World. "I am concerned the reaction may harm the work we are doing. A lot of children are going to suffer because of this. Who knows why they picked David Banda from all the other children?

"Another very famous person took a child from us for adoption and brought it back a few months later."

Martin Lowdon, who runs the Malawi Orphan Fund, added: "We regret the fact that there has been so much publicity about one orphan when there are still large numbers of orphans in need of welfare provision."