Last updated at 09:17 23 February 2007

: Troubled pop star Britney Spears is back in rehab for the third time.

Her manager Larry Rudolph confirmed she had gone back into the Promises centre in Malibu on Wednesday night, just hours after checking out.

Mr Rudolph's comments followed a report on showbiz website TMZ.com that claimed the shaven-headed pop princess was back in rehab for what should be a 35- to 40-day stay.

Now the mother-of-two is back at an unidentified facility for what should be a 35 to 40 day stay, according to showbiz website TMZ.com.

Video...'Britney Spears' prognosis, unless she gets the right kind of treatment, is dire', says Chris Prentiss, founder, Passages Malibu



• Windows Media Player



• Real Player



More follows...

As a result a planned emergency family law court hearing called by Spears' estranged husband Kevin Federline has been cancelled, it reported.

Yesterday, she left the Promises treatment centre in Malibu after 24 hours as her estranged husband Kevin Federline was granted an emergency court hearing over custody of their two young sons.

Spears was so worried about rapper Kevin Federline's action she immediately checked out of rehab and headed straight for her lawyers in Beverly Hills, where she was spotted chain-smoking and peering anxiously out of the office window.

Scroll down for more...



On the way there were extraordinary scenes with paparazzi descending on her car whenever traffic lights forced it to stop.

The custody battle intensified amid reports that Spears, 25, could be on the brink of suicide. There are claims she walked in front of a speeding car and then threatened to overdose on an anti-depressant.

More here...



• Online bidding under way for Britney's locks



• Another bad hair day for Britney

• Is Britney about to self-destruct?



• Gallery: Child Stars rebelling



• Gallery: Britney going bald



• Gallery: Other celebrity baldies



• Bald Britney 'Shears' walks out of rehab



• Britney strips off with lapdancers



• More exciting showbiz news



Federline, 28, is attempting to win sole custody of the children, Jayden James, five months, and 17-month-old Sean Preston. It is not known what issue he plans to raise, but a Superior Court spokesman confirmed the session would take place today.

The spokesman added: "Our best information is he will be here; she won't. But anything is possible."

After months of wild behaviour from Spears, the attempted suicide claims appeared in the National Enquirer.

A source told the tabloid that she rowed with Federline on Valentine's Day, adding that she had been hoping for a reconciliation, but he said he was taking her to court in a battle for the children and wanted a hair follicle for drug testing.

"Britney was crying and said she would kill herself if she lost the boys," a source told the Enquirer.

"She started pulling her hair and told Kevin she would cut it all off before anyone touched it."

The Enquirer said Spears's family immediately put her under watch.

"But during the night she escaped and tried to walk into oncoming traffic," said the source.

"Britney said she wanted to kill herself. She later grabbed a bottle of Xanax and said she'd take the whole bottle - she didn't care what happened to her."

After shaving her head at the weekend, Spears has been spotted around Hollywood wearing a cheap blonde wig. Psychologists warn her behaviour could be more than just a cry for help.

"Britney's family are terrified she'll end up like Anna Nicole Smith - on a cold slab in a morgue, leaving her young sons without a mother," said the source.

"She's on the same self-destructive path."

Click here to return to our showbiz homepage