AVRIL LAVIGNE - AVRIL: BRITNEY HAS HERSELF TO BLAME

AVRIL: BRITNEY HAS HERSELF TO BLAME

Pop princess Avril Lavigne has hit out at troubled singer Britney Spears and says the American star can't blame the media for her problems.

The 22-year-old Canadian, who is married to fellow punker Deryck Whibley from band Sum 41, believes Britney, currently divorcing hubby Kevin Federline, has only herself to blame for her public meltdown.

"What’s happened to Britney is all down to who she is as a person. If you want a piece of this business you have to be able to deal with it," the Sk8er Boi singer told Wenn.

Britney, best known for smash hits such as Baby One More Time and Toxic, filed for divorce from Kevin in November but weeks of partying with celebrity buddy Paris Hilton and strange behaviour, including the popstar shaving her hair in a California salon, followed the separation.

The 25-year-old singer recently completed a four-week programme in a Malibu rehabilitation centre to help fight her demons.

Yet the Complicated singer thinks tabloid pressures are pretty simple. "You can’t complain about the pressures, the paparazzi, the madness because that's the job," she added.

Avril's comeback song Girlfriend reached number two in the UK pop charts yesterday but couldn't knock the Proclaimers from the top spot.