Spears caught up in new sex tape hoax

Internet hoaxers are piling on the misery for ailing Britney Spears by claiming they have access to an illicit sex video featuring the pop star - and they want to sell it.

The pop superstar's aides acted quickly to get the cyber sale posting removed from the site, insisting it's bogus - and there is no video.

The posting - from an anonymous hoaxer - read: "I have a tape shot of me and Britney Spears and I was wondering if anyone in… LA would know who I could sell it to."

A Britney source says: "Britney was appalled by the news that someone was hawking a phoney video of her having sex with a possible former lover. She knew the video was a sham, but it bothered her greatly."

It has been a bad 2004 for Britney so far - it started off with an ill-advised Las Vegas wedding and continued with a suicide controversy in one of her videos and a cancelled tour following a knee injury.