Heather Mills accused of abusing Paralympic official after her bid to make Sochi Games failed

THE former wife of Beatles star Paul McCartney has been accused of lunging at a Paralympic official in a fit of rage and screaming insults after being forced to abandon her attempt to qualify for the British skiing team for next year's Games.

Heather Mills' hopes of competing in Sochi ended on Monday when the Inteational Paralympic Committee ruled a new prosthetic she was using hadn't been ratified by the goveing body. An application for a place in Britain's team was withdrawn.

IPC spokesman Craig Spence says the 45-year-old Mills confronted ski committee head Sylvana Mestre at a hotel in Austria, swore at her and said "you don't know who I am, I'm going to make your life miserable."

Mills faces being fined by the IPC.

The 45-year-old former model, who had her left leg amputated below the knee following an accident in 1993, had been training with the British Disabled Ski Team (BDST).

"On Monday, December 16, the British Disabled Ski Team (BDST) were informed by IPC Skiing that there was an issue with the adaptive equipment that Heather Mills was using that needed to be addressed before she would be allowed to compete," read a joint statement from the BDST and the British Paralympic Association.

"As a result of this and on the back of an injury, Heather Mills has decided to resign from BDST, thereby removing herself from the selection process for the Sochi Paralympic Games."

Equipment problems... Heather Mills racing in the giant slalom at the Inteational Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing World Cup at Thredbo. Picture: Steve Cuff

Mills married McCartney in 2002 and gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice, in October 2003, but the pair separated in 2006 and divorced two years later.

A kiss for a rival... Heather Mills kisses American Melanie Schwartz after an event in Queenstown.