It's a milestone most women don't look forward to - the half century.

Now it appears Madonna may have a good reason to postpone the planned celebrations for her 50th birthday party on Saturday.

The singer has sprained her left ankle and was pictured in New York at the weekend with it heavily bandaged.

Strain: The heavy bandage on Madonna's left ankle is clearly visible

Madonna had planned to host a lavish do for around 50 select guests at her country estate in Wiltshire, but she is now set to push back her party by nearly two weeks, according to the Daily Mirror.

A close friend of the Material Girl and her husband Guy Ritchie told the paper that the singer had been stressed out by rehearsals of her forthcoming Sticky And Sweet tour and the sprain was a sign that she should take it easy and postpone the 'formal birthday bash'.

Strapped: It is not known how Madonna sprained her ankle

The friend said: 'Madonna now reckons it'll go ahead during a three-day break in the tour towards the end of the month, not next weekend.

'Guy wants it to be traditional and British. He has already ordered crate-loads of real ale.

'He's also arranged for a folk band to play and the people invited are all pretty old school - Gwyneth Paltrow, Stella McCartney and Trudie Styler - basically friends Madonna's known for years.

'Everyone else will be immediate friends and family, plus a few people from Malawi that Madonna will be flying out.'

Madge was attending a Kabbalah centre in New York

It's been a bad few days for the A-list couple - last week their £2.5million London pub in Mayfair was accused of charging non-regulars more for a pint.

The two-tier pricing system is one of several alleged breaches at the Punch Bowl being investigated by local authorities.