The eventful life of Britney Spears took another turn on Monday when a court awarded custody of her two children to their father in an emergency hearing. Spears, 25, was given 48 hours to hand them over to her former husband, Kevin Federline.

Los Angeles superior court judge Scott Gordon ruled he should take custody of Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, from midday on Wednesday “until further order of the court”.

The order came just two weeks after the same court ruled that Spears could retain custody of the two boys. At the earlier hearing, the court ruled the singer should meet with a parenting coach, citing evidence that she was “a habitual, frequent and continuous” user of drugs and alcohol. She was also instructed to undergo random, biweekly drug tests.

It is understood the emergency hearing came when lawyers for Federline petitioned the court after Spears was photographed driving with the children in the back of her car at the weekend.

She does not have a current California driving licence and is facing a separate, unconnected charge of misdemeanour hit-and-run and of driving without a licence, following an incident a few days after the previous custody hearing.

The legal ruling comes a year after Spears filed for divorce from Federline, 29. They had been married for two years.