Simon Cowell has became the first patron of a charity set up by a former model who was badly disfigured in an acid attack.

The X Factor judge described Katie Piper as "brave" and "talented" as he backed her plan to set up a specialist burns rehabilitation centre offering medical treatment and emotional support.

Miss Piper was an aspiring TV presenter when she had sulphuric acid thrown in her face as she walked along a street in Golders Green, north-west London, in March 2008.

She was left fighting for her life after obsessive martial arts fan Daniel Lynch raped her and then arranged for another man to throw the corrosive liquid after she tried to break off their relationship.

She has undergone more than 40 operations on her face and throat including groundbreaking surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Miss Piper waived her right to anonymity to feature in a television documentary last year. Cowell, who contacted her after watching the Channel 4 programme, said: "Katie is one of the most inspiring people I have met. She is brave, talented and determined and I think what she is doing with the Katie Piper Foundation is incredible."

Lynch and Stefan Sylvestre - who threw the acid - were sentenced to life in prison by a judge at Wood Green Crown Court who described the pair as the "face of pure evil".