Britney Spears has apologised for driving with her baby son on her lap. The star sparked outrage when she was photographed steering her SUV with four-month-old Sean Preston perched on her knee. The pop babe now admits it was the wrong thing to do. She told Access Hollywood: "I made a mistake and so it is what it is, I guess."

Earlier this week, the singer reportedly told police she drove off with Sean out of his child seat because she was alarmed by nearby photographers. The sexy star said she and her bodyguard had driven to Starbucks, in Malibu, with the tot strapped into a baby seat. When the minder went inside, Britney put Sean on her lap.

She claims she spotted the shutterbugs nearby and drove off - with the infant still in her arms. She said in a statement released to People magazine: "Because of a recent incident when I was trapped in my car without my baby by a throng of paparazzi, I was terrified this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger.

"I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us, and took photos of us which were sold to the media."