Spears ordered to give 'working' number

Britney Spears has been ordered by a court to provide a working telephone number so that she can be reached when she is required to take a random drugs test.

Ex-husband Kevin Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, claimed that Spears had failed to respond to 8 out of 14 requests for drug testing to be undertaken.

The singer's lawyer insisted that she had not responded because she had been asleep. But the court argued that the timing had not been the issue, rather that she had lost and changed a number of her telephone numbers, making it difficult for them to get hold of her.

Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon said: "There needs to be one number that the testing facility calls that she responds to."

He explained that Spears would be able to change her numbers, just as long as everyone else is notified of the new number.

Gordon said: "You get a call, answer the call, set up a meeting, get the test."

He suggested that she has one separate number for the lab to call or that an alcohol testing device should be fitted to her car for when she drives.

Kaplan also requested that Spears should not drive while two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James are in the car "to protect their safety".

Federline currently has custody of the two boys, while Spears is allowed three visits a week. But this could be reviewed if it is found that she has violated the terms of her court orders.

Neither Spears nor Federline were present at the hearing in their ongoing custody battle.