Lily Allen has made a number of controversial claims about drug use and Christianity, which she described as “a bit cruel”.

In an interview with Word Magazine, the singer said she wished people wouldn't “sensationalise” stories about cocaine.

“I know lots of people who take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work. But we never hear that side of the story,” she said.

“I wish people wouldn’t sensationalise it. Some people are just bad at taking drugs.”

Allen admitted that she had taken the drug as a child despite disliking it because she was “lonely” and “everybody else was doing it”.

In a wide-ranging interview, Allen also said that she didn't "like Christianity much”.

“I was brought up in a Catholic school and they told me gays, adultery and drugs were bad,” she said.

“All my mum’s friends were gay, my dad was having affairs and there were drugs in the house when I was a kid, so it was a bit cruel.”

Allen is due to release of her second album, 'It's Not Me, It's You', next month.

The singer has just arrived back in the UK from a holiday in the Caribbean, where she appeared to go public with her new boyfriend, art dealer Jay Jopling.