James Arthur and Lucy Spraggan
Lucy Spraggan was offended after James Arthur branded rapper Micky Worthless a "f**king queer"

X Factor star James Arthur has become embroiled in a war of words with fellow contestant Lucy Spraggan just days after his 'queer' row with comedian Frankie Boyle.

The 25-year-old singer quit Twitter following fierce criticism for his use of the derogatory term 'queer' during a rap battle with upcoming rapper Micky Worthless.

After Arthur and Boyle traded insults over his use of the homophobic slur, Arthur apologised and relinquished control of the account to his managers.

But after he called a truce with Boyle, his expletive-filled rant continued with Spraggan offline.

She posted screenshots of the abusive text messages in which Arthur accused her of being 'two-faced'.

"Lucy what are you playing at having digs at me. Is it coz you're a gay rights activist you had to say something as extreme as 'people kill themselves every day over words like queer' are you for real?" he raged in one message.

"You not think you're being a bit over the top? Do you want attention or something? Sorry I didn't tweet your album link I've been busy but you didn't need to be so two faced.

He then added that his "album sold 10 times youres (sic) in its first week so you can f**k off with your career sh**e" and urged her to stop reading the press.

Openly gay Spraggan hit back: "Real people are people you a**ehole. 10 times in the first week hahahahahahahahaha. Good, I'm glad. Enjoy."

After Spraggan exposed the bitter exchange between the pair, scores of Arthur's fans contacted iTunes demanding a refund.

One user wrote: "It's not too late to get your refund on James Arthur's album".

Another added: "Real people do care".

According to PR expert Mark Borkowski, Arthur's career will have taken a knock from the scandal.

"[James is] clearly not sophisticated enough to recognise a) the power of his brand and b) the morality of his brand," Borkowski told the BBC.

"There is a sell-by-date stamped on these performers and people try and keep as much life as possible going, until the audience move off to the next shiny beast they want to surround."