Sir Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills has abandoned her efforts to compete in the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games following a dispute over her equipment.

The former model, who lost a leg in a traffic accident in 1993, has spent several years training and taking part in competitions in the run-up to the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

However, she has now pulled out of qualifying heats after Paralympic officials allegedly threatened her with disqualification if she did not adhere to their equipment guidelines.

International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence says, "On 1 July, we sent a memo to all countries asking them to submit their adaptive equipment for each skier for the forthcoming year. We cleared the prosthetic leg Heather was using then, but when we saw the new boot this week, we realised it was different and that she should not have been racing on it."

A representative for Mills adds, "We cannot believe she was told she would be disqualified for not wearing cosmetic, non-functional buckles on her ski boot. We feel very saddened that all her hard work, injury, struggles, and the overcoming of them, has come to her having to resign because of a bureaucratic decision that would lead to further pain and injury.

"Although her hopes and dreams for Sochi are now over, Heather hopes to one day compete in winter sports when the Ipc re-evaluates the unfair systems it has in place."

Mills claims the equipment she was ordered to use by the Ipc caused bleeding and blistering.