Britney Spears' lawyer has asked a judge overseeing the star's ongoing illegal driving case to delay the upcoming trial - for a second time.

Spears' lawyer J. Michael Flanagan was granted an extension to work on the case in January and was due back in Los Angeles Superior Court for a hearing the following month.

Judge T.K. Herman then issued the renewed trial date earlier this month, calling on the Toxic hitmaker to reappear in court on 15 October.

And now Flanagan has once again filed a petition seeking a delay in the criminal case - arguing that the star is still unable to actively participate in her own defence because of her father's conservatorship. Jamie Spears has controlled the singer's estate and personal affairs since February.

The hearing relates to an incident in August, when Spears scraped a parked car in a private parking lot in California's San Fernando Valley while driving without a valid licence.

Spears has since obtained her Californian state driving licence.