Britney Spears loses children custody temporally

Britney Spears' downward spiral took a devastating turn on Monday when she was ordered to relinquish custody of her children by a judge who had cited a troubling lifestyle fuelled by drugs and alcohol.

Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon ruled that that ex-husband Kevin Federline will take Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, beginning on Wednesday "until further order of the court."

The order stemmed from an unspecified oral motion made by Federline's lawyers and was handled in a closed-door hearing.

The judge's order did not state the reason for the change in custody and he ordered all transcripts of the proceedings sealed.

Phone messages left for representatives of Spears and Federline were not immediately returned Monday.

Tony Potts, a correspondent for "Access Hollywood" and host of new "Celebrity Expose," told the Associated Press, "There must have been some egregious thing that Britney did over the last seven days that, some sort of checkpoint that she failed, and the judge said, 'Hold on. You failed a checkpoint. This invokes what I said. You're going to lost custody of the kids for now."

Last month, Gordon said Spears engaged in "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol" and ordered her to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week as part of her ongoing custody dispute with Federline.

Spears also was previously ordered to meet weekly with a "parenting coach" who was to observe and report back to the court about her parenting skills.

Both Spears and Federline must complete the court's "Parenting Without Conflict" class.

Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, were married in October 2004. She filed for divorce last November and it became official in July. The two have joint custody of their sons, but Federline is seeking a greater share of custody.

Since Spears became single, her troubles have played out in the tabloids. First she was photographed at various Hollywood hot spots partying hard with Paris Hilton - appearing drunk and out-of-control.

Some photos captured the pop star without underwear on. Then Spears shaved her head as paparazzi captured the moment, beat a car with an umbrella and ended up spending a month in rehab.

The driving offences likely compelled the judge to issue Monday's orders, said New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder.

Hours after news of Spears' custody issues, Gloria Allred, attorney for former Spears bodyguard Tony Barretto, met with the press.

"I believe that removing custody from Miss Spears is the shock treatment that Britney Spears needs. Tony and I believe that she loves her children, and that the children also need their mother."

Barretto went to court on Monday to support a sealed declaration about questionable behaviour by the pop star in a child-custody dispute between the singer and ex-husband Kevin Federline - but never got to testify.