Spears pulls out of Timberlake duet

Britney Spears has pulled out of recording a duet with former boyfriend Justin Timberlake at the last minute, reports claim.

Justin allegedly penned the song especially for the troubled singer and had arranged for hip-hop star Timbaland to produce it.

Spears' record label Jive is said to be furious over her decision to ditch the number, which was expected to kick-start a career comeback.

Without a show-stopping song to perform, bosses are concerned she will "bomb" at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.

An industry source said: "Timbaland set aside a week out of his crazy schedule to do this - and then, just before she was supposed to fly out, Britney abruptly cancelled the session and refused to do the song.

"It's crazy. She's looking for a comeback and this would have not only been a huge hit, but something she could have opened the [VMAs] with and really blown everyone away."