'Britney on verge of nervous breakdown'

Britney Spears is "on the verge of a nervous breakdown" a tattooist who witnessed her shocking Friday makeover maintains.

The singer and mother of two stunned fans and paparazzi photographers when she walked into a hairdressing salon in Los Angeles and asked a stylist to cut all her hair off.

When the hairdresser refused, Spears grabbed some clippers, and can be seen in snaps shearing herself bald (pictured provided by KABC-TV).

The 25-year-old was then followed as she drove to a tattoo parlour and had two images etched; a pair of bright red lips on her wrist and a black, white and pink cross on her lower hip.

Tattooist Emily Wynne-Hughes, who was in the shop, now fears the drastic new look is a stark warning of Spears' emotional instability.

She says: "After (Britney) left, we said to each other: 'We just saw a huge celebrity on the verge of a nervous breakdown.'

"She seemed really distraught and disturbed. She was very scatterbrained. It was crazy, very surreal. She's definitely crying out."

Unconfirmed press reports claim the singer was later spotted wearing a dark wig at the Cedars Sinai Medical Centre in Beverly Hills, where she briefly spoke to staff in a private room.