Spears 'married to childhood friend'

BRITNEY Spears, the American pop singer, has married a childhood friend after a joke went too far, it was reported yesterday.

Spears, 22, wore jeans and a baseball cap as she wed Jason Alexander at a Las Vegas ceremony.

There were no family members present and the singer was walked down the aisle by a hotel barman, according to the online edition of People magazine.

A source close to the singer told the magazine the wedding was a joke that went too far. "I don’t know what’s going through her mind," the source said.

The pair planned their rushed wedding on Friday night as they partied at the Ghostbar, part of the Palms Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. They were driven to the Little White Wedding Chapel, where Natalie Maines, from the Dixie Chicks, and the actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have also tied the knot.

When Spears found out they needed a licence, the couple were driven to the Clark County marriage bureau in downtown Las Vegas.

Documents filed at the bureau showed that Spears, of Kentwood, Louisiana and Jason Alexander, 22, who is also of Kentwood, were granted a marriage licence.

According to People magazine, the ceremony was videotaped and the singer has been showing the footage to friends.

The couple’s "honeymoon" took place at a luxury suite at the Palms hotel immediately after the wedding.

Plans are reportedly being made to annul the marriage.