Britney Spears Taken to Hospital Again

Britney Spears has been taken to hospital by ambulance for the second time in a month, according to the Associated Press.

An anonymous Los Angeles police source reportedly said the pop star was being taken to "get help", but did not say where the ambulance was taking her.

The celebrity gossip website TMZ said Spears was being taken from her Beverley Hills mansion to UCLA medical center where she would be placed under California's Code 5150, which means she is considered to pose a danger to herself and others.

Spears was admitted to Cedars-Sinai medical center in Los Angeles earlier this month after refusing to hand over her children to her former husband Kevin Federline, in breach of a court order. She was kept in involuntary psychiatric hold and released after being visited by a psychiatrist.

Doctors have called for her to receive treatment for drug addiction and hereditary mental illness exacerbated by a troubled childhood. There were reports that the singer was suffering from bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression.

Earlier this month it emerged that her paternal grandmother committed suicide at the age of 31 after being depressed for several years.

Spear's mental health problems come amid a stressful custody battle with her ex-husband over their two sons, two-year-old Sean Preston and 15-month-old Jayden James.

Federline was granted temporary custody, and Spears lost her visiting rights as a result of refusing to hand the boys back earlier this month.