Photo scandal: Cheryl DENIES drug use after ‘white powder’ picture

At first glance, this photo reportedly taken of Cheryl Fernandez-Versini at last night's British Fashion Awards appears perfectly innocuous.

Washing her hands in the sink of a public bathroom, Cheryl is looking away from the camera and seems unaware the photo is being taken. But a quick glance at the bottom half of the photo shows something very incriminating – what appear to be four lines of white powder.

According to The Sun, fashion editor Laura Craik posted the photo to her personal Instagram account with the caption "Sadness in her eyes."

She deleted it almost immediately, but not before some of her eagle-eyed followers had screen-grabbed it.

A source close to Cheryl has today strongly denied anything untoward was going on and insists the X Factor judge was only there to use the bathroom.

The source adds there is nothing to suggest that the singer was aware of any white powder in her vicinity.

"It’s outrageous that someone in the fashion industry has taken a picture of Cheryl like this and posted it publicly," the insider tells The Sun.

"She absolutely despises drugs and any connection linking her to them is ridiculous. She was just using the toilet."

Cheryl is reportedly in talks with her lawyers and is considering legal action against Ms. Craik, who is well known in the fashion industry and has over 5,000 followers on Instagram.

The singer is not the first celebrity to have denied taking drugs after awards show footage went viral.

Shortly after August's MTV VMAs, a video of Taylor Swift holding something up to her nose while a team of assistants blocked her from the view of backstage cameras made it online.

A member of her team could be seen checking her nose with a torch before she walked away.

The clip was uploaded onto YouTube and viewed several thousand times before it was removed. Taylor's reps later said the singer was simply blowing her nose and didn't want the footage to make it onto MTV.