Troubled singer Britney Spears to remain hospitalized: source

Pop singer Britney Spears will remain in a Los Angeles hospital's psychiatric ward for another two weeks, according to the Associated Press.

An individual close to the performer, but who requested anonymity, said Sunday that doctors and other hospital staff determined that Spears should remain for an additional 14 days at the UCLA Medical Center.

Early Thursday morning, an ambulance took the 26-year-old performer to the hospital, where she was subsequently placed under a 72-hour mental health evaluation which expired Sunday.

A police escort said to have cost the City of Los Angeles $25,000 US, andwhich included officers on motorcycles, in cars and in a helicopter, accompanied the ambulance.

Officials said the significantpre-dawn convoy was a necessity to keep away the paparazzi usually camped out around Spears at all times.

The brouhaha has even inspired a Los Angeles councillor to propose a law to create a "personal safety zone" around celebrities to keep the increasingly aggressive paparazziwho hound them a certain distance away, whether on foot or in vehicles.

Father granted temporary control of affairs

On Friday, a Los Angeles court granted Spears's father, James, and lawyer Andrew Wallete temporary control over the troubled pop star's affairs and issued a restraining order against Sam Lutfi, who had been acting as her manager in recent months.

The life of the former Mouseketeer and teen pop starlet has plummeted into chaos in recent years, especially since she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline in 2006.

Since then, Spears, the young mother of two sons with Federline, made headlines for her late-night carousing, multiple visits to rehabilitation facilities and vehicular mishaps, as well as for rumours of substance abuse.

An attempt at a musical comeback for the internationally known chart-topper was deemed a failure after her poor performance at last September's MTV Video Music Awards, despite some praise for her subsequent dance music album Blackout released a month later.

In January, police were summoned to Spears's residence and the singer was hospitalized after she refused to turn over her sons to Federlinefollowing a visit. She subsequently lost custody of her children.