Cheryl Cole files for divorce from husband Ashley Cole

Image caption, Cheryl Cole has enjoyed success with her solo album 3 Words

Cheryl Cole has filed for divorce from footballer husband Ashley Cole, it has been confirmed.

The singer and X Factor judge cited "unreasonable behaviour" in the action filed at the High Court in London.

The high profile couple split in February after claims the England star had been unfaithful during their four-year marriage.

The divorce could go through before the World Cup in South Africa next month, according to reports.

Tabloid speculation

The 26-year-old Girl s Aloud star married the footballer in 2006 in a lavish ceremony in Hertfordshire.

The pair met in 2004 and were engaged a year later after the footballer proposed in Dubai.

OK! magazine covered the wedding, despite Cheryl Cole's earlier insistence that the ceremony would be a "quiet affair".

In 2008, the couple's marriage was rocked by tabloid speculation about Ashley Cole's infidelity.

They eventually split following further claims made in tabloid newspapers.

It was alleged that Ashley had texted compromising photographs of himself to several women, while another came forward to claim she had slept with him in 2009.