Amy Winehouse was reportedly in the process of adopting a 10-year-old girl when she died.

The troubled singer - who was found dead at her north London home last weekend aged 27 - had planned to take on the care of Dannika Augustine, after striking a strong bond with the poverty-stricken girl and her family during her lengthy stays on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.

Dannika said: "Amy was already my mother. I would call her mum and she would call me her ¬daughter. She took care of me and we had fun together. I loved her and she loved me.

"She was the most amazing person and I was looking forward to living with her here or in London. I cannot believe she is gone. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Her grandmother Majorie Lambert, who runs a beach bar close to the villa where Amy liked to stay, added: to the Sunday Mirror newspaper "Amy loved Dannika with all her heart. I don't know why Amy took to Dannika above all the other children on the island, but from the moment they met they were ¬inseparable. They would spend all day playing, horse-riding and walking up and down the beach hand-in-hand.

"Amy used to beg me, 'I want to adopt Dannika. I want to take her to England.' She was prepared to move to St Lucia to be her full-time mum.

"Amy wanted to have a child so bad. If she had not died, there is no doubt she would be here in St Lucia ¬completing the adoption process. There is no way she would have done what she did to herself if Dannika was with her."

Marjorie says Dannika's mother Nadia Germaine was willing to have the youngster adopted because she couldn't afford to bring her daughter up alone, while the girl's father Vic Augustine, who lives in Germany, was consulted about the proposal.

Vic said: "Amy called me from my mother's mobile phone. She said, 'Hello, Marjorie's lovely son. I wanted to talk to you because I feel like you are my brother. Marjorie has become like a mother to me.' Then she said, 'I love Dannika so much. She is the most amazing girl.'

"I thanked Amy for taking care of my daughter, and she said, 'Dannika is taking care of me. I couldn't live ¬without her.' Then she said, 'I would like your permission to adopt Dannika.'

"I said if my mum thought it was a good idea, then it was OK with me. I also spoke to Dannika's mother and she said she would agree to it."

Marjorie last spoke to Amy weeks ago when she was making arrangements for a planned visit to St. Lucia next week and says the 'Back to Black' star sounded "weak and down."

She said: "Amy sounded weak and down. She asked how I was and said, 'Tell everybody I will be back in St Lucia soon.'

"I was expecting her here next week. I couldn't believe it when my friend in London told me she had died.

"Amy was such a good person. She wanted to help everyone. I know she had her problems, but in St Lucia she was a much better person than people knew in the UK. She was drug-free and normal here. I never worried about Dannika being with Amy."