Britney Spears was charged on Friday with hit and run and driving without a valid license, a spokesman with the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office said.

The 25-year-old singer was charged with one count of hit and run causing property damage and one count of driving without a valid California driver's license, both misdemeanors.

The charges, which each carry a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a US$1,000 fine, stem from an incident in a private parking lot in the San Fernando Valley on August 6.

Spears is accused of hitting a parked car and driving away.

The victim filed an accident report on August 9 at the North Hollywood Community Police Station.

The city attorney's office did not know whether Spears' car had been damaged, nor did he know the extent of damage to the other car, spokesman Frank Mateljan said. He also did not know who else, if anyone, was in the car with Spears.

Representatives for the singer were not immediately available for comment.

Spears was sent a letter on Friday, notifying her of the charges. A hearing, which Spears does not have to attend because the charges are misdemeanors, is set for October 10, Mateljan said.

Earlier this month, the singer, who shot to stardom in the late 1990s as a pop princess, delivered what was considered a disappointing performance of her new single "Gimme More" at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Spears' professional life has been overshadowed by her personal crises, which have become constant fodder for supermarket tabloids.

(Agencies via CRI.cn September 24, 2007)