Spice Girl Bunton to quit Britain

Former Spice Girls star Emma Bunton is quitting Britain to move to America after two failed attempts to launch her solo pop career.

The blonde singer, who was dubbed Baby Spice in the girl band's heyday, is hoping to launch herself as a TV presenter in New York, where her former bandmate Melanie Brown is currently starring in the Broadway musical Rent.

Bunton plans to negotiate with Aerosmith's publicity firm, Mitch Schneider; Sting's management company, Kathy Schenker; and Rogers and Cowen, who look after The Rolling Stones and Elton John.

A source says: "Emma's ready for a new beginning. She feels she can make a real go of things there. She's especially keen to get into television and the people she's having meetings with are the ones who can get her on influential shows like David Letterman or Jay Leno.

"The feedback so far has been positive. People in New York still remember who The Spice Girls were, even if they don't remember individual members."

Bunton was dropped by Virgin Records in 2001 after poor single and albums sales. Her latest attempt to hit the top in June with Crickets Sing For Anamaria only got to number 15 in the UK charts.