Timbaland is desperate to work with the Sugababes.

The hip-hop producer met the British girl group - Keisha Buchanan, Heidi Range and Amelle Berrabah - last year, while he and Justin Timberlake worked on Madonna's new album, and Amelle revealed he is interested in collaborating with the band.

She said: "Timbaland is keen on us. He actually asked us to do stuff with him before."

"We ended up spending a lot of time with him and Justin last year because they were working on the Madonna album at the same studio as us. We'd have lunch and dinner together between recordings."

"They were great company - very funny. We couldn't get any Madonna gossip out of them, though. They were secretive about her new music."

Although the girls didn't manage to meet Madonna, Amelle says the star's 11-year-old daughter Lourdes would be a welcome addition to their group.

She added to Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "I had lunch with her daughter. She is a real sweetie. I'll have to ask her to sing with us when we meet next time."