Police chief advises Britney to "stay home"

Proposals for a new law which would protect celebrities from the paparazzi have been criticised by Los Angeles Police Department chief William Bratton.

LA City Councilman Dennis P. Zine has called for the introduction of designated safety zones, where it would be illegal for unlicensed photographers to follow stars. The suggestion followed concerns over the way troubled singer Britney Spears has been treated by the paparazzi.

However, in a US radio interview this week, Bratton insisted that Spears could easily avoid the paparazzi by agreeing to "stay home".

"What we need is Britney Spears to stay home instead of traipsing all over town. That would solve the problem. We don't need additional laws," he explained. "I've got laws coming out my ears to deal with this issue.

"What you have is several young women in this town and several young men basically making fools of themselves and tying up not only my resources but the resources of the media that would do better covering legitimate stories instead of a bunch of airheads running around out there.

"Quite clearly, some of these characters so favoured by the paparazzi are clearly in need of services. Not police services, but psychiatric services."