BRITNEY HITS ROCK BOTTOM ; Singer Holds Kids Hostage in 4-Hr Siege Strapped to Stretcher Bypolice an

Jan 05, 12:52 AM

TROUBLED singer Britney Spears was being held in hospital last night after a siege at her Los Angeles home.

The 26-year-old star had barricaded herself in the house with her sons after refusing to hand them over to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

She held police - who surrounded the house with at least five vehicles and a helicopter overhead - at bay for about four hours on Thursday night.

The LAPD said last night that Britney was clearly under the influence of an unknown substance.

She was stretchered off to hospital, where she was having drug and alcohol tests, as well as psychiatric evaluation, yesterday.

Sean Preston, two, and 15-month-old Jayden James are now believed to be with Federline, who was awarded custody of them because Britney failed to comply with court orders.

Last night, a court gave Federline sole custody and suspended the star's visiting rights.

Police were called when she refused to allow a court official in or to hand over the kids to Federline's bodyguards after a scheduled visit.

LAPD spokesman Jason Lee said: "We do believe Britney Spears was under the influence. At this stage, we do not know what she may have taken.

"If the test does prove positive then we would be looking to move her to a police station and charge her."

Former dancer Federline's lawyer was also called to the house at one stage.

Britney had showed up 90 minutes late to a deposition in her custody case earlier in the day. This week, the third set of lawyers to represent her in the case announced they were dropping her.

(c) 2008 Daily Record; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. BRITNEY HITS ROCK BOTTOM ; Singer Holds Kids Hostage in 4-Hr Siege Strapped to Stretcher Bypolice an
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