Britney Spears Loses Custody of Her Children

The eventful life of Britney Spears took another turn yesterday when a court awarded custody of her two children to their father in an emergency hearing. Spears, 25, was given 48 hours to hand them over to her former husband, Kevin Federline.

Los Angeles superior court judge Scott Gordon ruled he should take custody of Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, from midday tomorrow "until further order of the court".

The order came just two weeks after the same court ruled that Spears could retain custody of the two boys.

At the earlier hearing, the court ruled the singer should meet with a parenting coach, citing evidence that she was "a habitual, frequent and continuous" user of drugs and alcohol. She was also instructed to undergo random, biweekly drug tests.

It is understood the emergency hearing came when lawyers for Mr Federline petitioned the court after Spears was photographed driving with the children in the back of her car at the weekend.

She does not have a current California driving license and is facing a separate, unconnected charge of misdemeanor hit-and-run and of driving without a license, following an incident a few days after the previous custody hearing.

The latest setback follows a succession of bizarre antics by the woman who ranks in the top 10 best-selling female recording artists in American history. Last month she was considered to have committed career suicide after a shambolic live appearance at the MTV awards in Las Vegas.

The legal ruling comes a year after Spears filed for divorce from Federline, 29. They had been married for two years.