They are really keen to do it if there is a charity angle. They are talking about doing it for Bono’s Red campaign. It’s been on the cards for a while, at least a couple of months. They are all good friends now,” says a source.

Senior executives at television production company Emap TV, who are interested in broadcasting the concert, are flying to Los Angeles this weekend to talk with Simon Fuller, the band’s former manager, who still represents Victoria Beckham and produces American Idol.

Ticket receipts for the concert itself would go to charity.

Details of the concert are still being negotiated but it would have to be after the birth of Baby Spice Emma Bunton’s first baby in the summer. Scary Spice Melanie Brown is also due to give birth in March.

The tour will likely kick off with a concert at a huge London venue, maybe Hyde Park, in September or October.