Britney to lose her bra for hurricane victims

WHILE most parents consider her too scantily clad already, pop princess Britney Spears is set to shed even more of her clothing, right down to her bra.

The 23-year-old former teen queen, famed for her provocative stage outfits, has donated a treasure trove of personal items including a two-piece sofa, a bikini and a jewel-encrusted brassiere to be sold on internet auction house eBay to help US hurricane victims.

The 'white-stone' undergarment, worn by the singer in one of her music videos, sports "a variety of sizes of round white stones and silver-tone beads in this intricately designed bra", according to the online auctioneer.

The sparkling bra, which has already garnered offers of up to €511 in the online auction that began on Saturday and will last a week, sports a broken link in the centre piece connecting its cups, eBay noted.

Spears last month gave birth to her first baby with husband Kevin Federline.

A two-piece, six-seat sofa owned by Spears is also on the block, with €470 in bids so far received, while an oversized daybed had notched up a top offer of €327.

A white two-piece swimsuit once worn by the shapely singer has fetched bids of up to €268.

Other items include shoes, hats, handbags, a T-shirt, jewellery, a pair of red jeans and a set of bar-stools.

Proceeds from the sale will go to the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund, which on Saturday staged a concert in Mississippi to benefit victims of the storm that struck the US Gulf Coast on August 29.

Lousiana officials yesterday ended their door-to-door sweep for corpses, finding far fewer bodies than once feared and school children returned to classes as New Orleans revved up efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

The search for Katrina victims ended in Louisiana with a death toll at 964, substantially less than the 10,000 victims some officials feared.