Whitney Houston faces lawn sprinkling summons

Whitney Houston is being summonsed to appear in court because sprinklers were left on at one of her homes.

Police in New Jersey were called to the singer's Mendham Township estate after an anonymous phone call.

Neither Houston nor her husband, Bobby Brown, were in the house at the time. Security said they'd have to call the landscape gardener to get the sprinklers turned off.

The Star-Ledger says Houston, who is making a new album, is due to appear in court on October 9.

Police have recently prosecuted 15 people in a crackdown on sprinkler violations.

Offenders face a potential penalty of six months in jail and a €955 fine.

"Nobody gets special treatment here. When we get a complaint, we are obligated to investigate it and if there is a violation, we have to enforce the law. You have to treat everybody the same," said police.

Houston's spokeswoman, Nancy Seltzer, said Houston "has not been in Mendham for quite some time - a judge will understand that someone taking care of the property obviously made a mistake.

"Whitney is very conscious about the environment and she will care if in fact this (law) was breached."