Payout helps Britney dodge criminal trial

Britney Spears has avoided a criminal hit-and-run trial by paying for damages after a crash but still faces a charge of driving without a licence, a court official ruled today.

Spears was not required to attend the hearing on the misdemeanour charges stemming from an August 6 car park mishap.

LA Superior Court Commissioner Susan Speer dismissed the hit-and-run charge after a lawyer for the pop star said his client had paid an undisclosed amount to a woman whose car was hit in a California car park.

A charge of driving without a licence was not dismissed, and a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for November 26.

The commissioner accepted a not guilty plea entered on Spears' behalf by lawyer Michael Flanagan.

In the incident, paparazzi photographed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to park in a car park. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

Outside court, Mr Flanagan said city attorney Michael Amerian had offered Spears a plea deal involving the licence charge that would have resulted in her being placed on probation for a year.

Mr Flanagan said he believed a plea was unnecessary because Spears had rectified the situation by recently getting a California driver's licence.

"She got a licence, she has insurance, has always had insurance," he said. "The question is: Is probation really necessary?"

He said Spears previously had a licence in Louisiana but did not have one in California because a camera was not available at the Department of Motor Vehicles when she went to apply for a licence well before the accident.

Mr Flanagan said he had not spoken to Spears in a few days.

He said the owner of the car that was hit was satisfied with the resolution and did not want to go forward with the hit-and-run charge.

Tomorrow, a hearing is set in Spears' custody fight with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two young sons.

Her lawyer, Anne Kiley, said earlier this week that Spears had regained temporary visitation rights of her sons, Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.

Court official Scott Gordon had told Spears just days earlier that she could not visit the boys without a parenting coach present until she complies with a court order.

The mandate did not spell out what directives Spears failed to comply with.

Among other things, Mr Gordon ordered her to undergo random weekly drug testing, citing evidence that Spears engaged in "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol".