She spent just 24 hours at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads rehab clinic in Antigua last week before prompting fears over her health by shaving off her own hair in full view of photographers.

TV show The Insider reported that Spears called a car service and walked out of the luxurious Promises centre - far short of the usual 45-day stay.

She had been pictured at the facility with her bald head on display wearing a pink vest top bearing the slogan "Delicious".

Promises spokesman Eddie Michaels said he had no comment and would not confirm that she had been there or that she had left.

Britney Spears enters rehab clinic - Feb 21 2007
Troubled pop star Britney Spears has gone into rehab, according to her manager.

The singer is said to have spent just 24 hours in a facility last week before shocking fans and prompting fears over her health by shaving off her own hair in full view of photographers.

Larry Rudolph told People magazine: "Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed rehab facility.

"We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those of her family and friends at this time."

The 25-year-old mother-of-two reportedly visited Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Centre in Antigua for just one day last week.

Entertainment website TMZ.com said that according to sources Spears was at a Los Angeles in-patient facility.

Her wild weekend began on Friday night when she turned up at Esther’s Hair Salon in Tarzana, California, and demanded that owner Esther Tognozzi shave her head.

When the hairdresser refused, Spears grabbed the clippers and did the job herself, as shocked passers by and photographers watched through the windows.

The star then moved on and got two new tattoos of pairs of pink lips, while listening to a Janis Joplin CD.

Unconfirmed reports claimed she later turned up at the Cedars Sinai Medical Centre in Beverly Hills wearing a dark wig. But apparently she left soon after arriving.

Britney ’may be rebelling against mother’ - Feb 20 2007
Britney Spears’ decision to shave off her hair might have been an act of rebellion against her mother, according to a US report.

As celebrity watchers struggled to make sense of the singer’s move, it was also revealed she’d been deeply upset by the recent death of an aunt from cancer. Britney was said to have been very close to Sandra Bridges Covington, who died last month.

Another report suggested the 25-year-old may have opted for the cut after hairdressers discovered her hair was so damaged by dye-jobs that bald patches were appearing.

She and her mother had been feuding over Lynne Spears’ demand that her daughter end her wild behaviour, a source from the X17 photo agency told the New York Post.

Spears’ surprising new hairdo, which has led to speculation she may be on the edge of some kind of breakdown, did not stop her socialising.

On Saturday she was spotted at West Hollywood’s chic Mondrian hotel sporting a short blonde wig and a mismatched bikini and smoking "cigarette after cigarette". On Sunday night she covered up with the wig again to go to at the Roxy nightclub.

Salon owner Esther Tognozzi is now selling Spears’ jettisoned locks on a specially created website, with an asking price of a million dollars (£510,000). The proceeds will go to charity.

Hours before committing her hair to history, Spears was talking about it without giving any clue of what she was about to do, video footage on website TMZ.com showed.

As she walked through Los Angeles International airport on Friday afternoon a photographer told the star: "I love the brown hair."