Judge makes Britney trial warning

Spears faces an ongoing custody battle for her sons

A US judge has warned that singer Britney Spears will face trial on a charge of driving without a valid licence if proceedings are delayed.

Los Angeles Superior Court judge TK Herman granted an adjournment until 20 February, but told lawyers that no more delays would be allowed.

He said a trial would be forced within 30 days if both sides failed to agree how to proceed in the case.

The charge relates to an incident in August when Spears hit a parked car.

The pop star faced hit-and-run charges after she left the scene, but they were dropped in October after she compensated the driver of the damaged vehicle.

Plea deal

Spears' lawyer Michael Flanagan said the singer was driving with a Louisiana licence at the time of the incident and applied for a California licence one week after the charges were filed.

He added that a camera to take a photograph for the licence had not been available at the time.

Mr Flanagan said that Spears had been offered a plea bargain deal which would have resulted in her being put on probation for one year.

But he said this was unnecessary because she had since obtained a valid California licence.

Spears is currently embroiled in a custody battle over her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, with the court recently making no changes to an order which denies her visitation rights.