Britney back in rehab

Troubled pop star Britney Spears has gone into rehab, her manager said tonight.

The singer is said to have spent just 24 hours in a facility last week before shocking fans and prompting fears over her health by shaving off her own hair in full view of photographers (pictured, photo provided by KABC-TV).

Larry Rudolph told People magazine: "Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed rehab facility today.

"We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those of her family and friends at this time."

The 25-year-old mother-of-two reportedly visited Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua for just one day last week.

Entertainment website TMZ.com said that, according to sources, Spears was at a Los Angeles in-patient facility.

Her wild weekend began on Friday night when she turned up at Esther's Hair Salon in Tarzana, California, and demanded that owner Esther Tognozzi shave her head.

When the hairdresser refused, Spears grabbed the clippers and did the job herself, as shocked passers by and photographers watched through the windows.

The star then moved on and got two new tattoos of pairs of pink lips, while listening to a Janis Joplin CD.

Unconfirmed reports claimed she later turned up at the Cedars Sinai Medical Centre in Beverly Hills wearing a dark wig.

But apparently she left soon after arriving.

Ms Tognozzi said that after Spears had finished with the razor, she gazed into the mirror with tears in her eyes and said: "Oh, my God, I shaved it all off. My mom is going to be so upset with me."

The shocking buzzcut prompted suggestions the pop princess was on the verge of some kind of breakdown.

By Sunday however she was up and about and sporting a cheap-looking platinum blonde bobbed wig.

The Hit Me One More Time singer had an early dinner with her father before hitting a West Hollywood nightclub.

Estranged husband Kevin Federline is said to be worried about Spears.

"Kevin is concerned for Britney and his children," a friend told People.

"Of course he's concerned about her. He loves her. He's always loved her - even after she started divorce proceedings."

The pair have two sons together, Sean Preston, one, and five-month-old Jayden James.