Britney Spears' lawyer has turned down a plea deal on behalf of his client - to keep her out of court - because he doesn't want the pop star to be labelled a criminal.

In a pretrial hearing on Wednesday morning, Michael Flanagan turned down the prosecution team's offer of a $150 fine and 12 months probation to make Spears' California driving license issues go away - because, to get it, she would have to accept she's guilty of a criminal offence.

As a result, it now looks as if the trial will proceed as planned next week (beg13Octo8).

Spears was caught driving without a valid California state license last year.