Britney pops in for TOTP visit

Madonna turned Hyde Park into a media circus when she attempted to jog, Puff Daddy raised eyebrows with a series of all-night parties in his Park Lane hotel suite and, most recently, Jennifer Lopez demanded 10 dressing rooms when she turned up for a pop awards show. London has seen its fair share of showbiz antics from visiting American singers.

But when Britney Spears arrived, she did so in a style that matched anything that has come before.

The singer, who turned 20 last month, landed at Heathrow late last night on a private jet for a two-day visit to perform on Top Of The Pops and give a handful of interviews. She was accompanied by an entourage so large that five people carriers were required to ferry them from the airport.

To negotiate the crowd of fans and cameras Britney, who has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, was draped in a blanket and flanked by two man-mountain security guards who powered her out of the airport chaos to her place at the heart of the cavalcade of Mercedes cars. This departed at speed, pursued, naturally, by an even larger convoy of photographers, for the West End.

Britney's entourage of dancers, hair and make-up artists, wardrobe co-ordinators, production crew, security men and managers have taken over the entire sixth floor at the St Martin's Lane Hotel, where the penthouse suite alone will cost £3,290 for the two days they are here. Rooms come with the proviso that guests should not throw parties "because the furniture is so expensive" - a restriction which should not trouble the Britney-ites if they are anything like their famously clean-living Britney.

La Spears herself, either because she didn't fancy St Martin's Lane, or because she didn't want to stay among her underlings, checked in at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge. She has taken the gigantic Imperial Suite, actually a two-bedroom apartment with panoramic views across Hyde Park, at a cost of £4,700 a night. The suite, decorated in gold, is described as "classic and luxurious".

Today, again flanked by two enormous bodyguards, she went for a stroll around Hyde Park, wearing a cloth cap, jeans and tie-dyed shirt. She wore little make-up and looked tired as she returned to the hotel, pausing only briefly to take a package from a fan. She emerged later to shop in Knightsbridge, still in jeans but now wearing a floppy hat and leopardskin coat.

Later the party will travel to Television Centre in White City, where security for Britney's TOTP appearance has been described as "unprecedented". Some BBC executives have had to sacrifice their spaces in the car park to meet Britney's appearance demands. The other items on her list should be more modest: tuna salad with Hellman's mayonnaise, Doritos crisps and breath fresheners.

Fans will be kept at a distance while she is on stage - something her own security team as well as the BBC will be seeing to - because of concerns that some might get a little too excited and try to grab her.

A source close to Britney said: "She has her share of crazy fans - but there are one or two in particular that her managers are concerned about. Security at Television Centre has never been so tight. She will be in and out of the studios and straight back to her hotel."

Britney is expected to be at the BBC for no more than three hours, from 4pm, and will record two versions of her song Overprotected - wearing different costumes - and one version of her next single, I'm A Girl Not Yet A Woman, before a short interview with presenter Jamie Theakston.

Tomorrow, she will record The Frank Skinner Show and grant interviews from her hotel room to Radio One and Capital Radio. Most pop stars visit the stations for such interviews, but for Britney the interviewers will come to her.

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