Britney Spears speaks out against 'abusive' conservatorship at hearing

US pop star Britney Spears has launched a blistering attack on the "abusive" conservatorship that has controlled her life for 13 years at a court hearing.

Speaking in open court for the first time in the case, she accused her father of controlling her "100,000%".

She said she had been denied the right to have more children, and put on the psychiatric drug lithium against her wishes.

Jamie Spears was granted control over her affairs by court order in 2008.

The order was granted after the star was put in hospital amid concerns over her mental health.

Speaking on Wednesday via telephone to a judge in Los Angeles, the pop star said she was traumatised and cried every day. "I just want my life back," she said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny thanked Spears for her "courageous" words but made no ruling. A long legal process is likely before any decision is made on ending the conservatorship, the Associated Press reports.

There has been speculation for years about how Spears, 39, felt about the arrangement, with fans eagerly combing her social media output for clues.

"I want to end this conservatorship without being evaluated," Spears told the court in an emotional 20-minute address by video link.

"I deserve to have a life, I've worked my whole life. I deserve to have a two to three-year break."

Spears, a mother of two, said she wanted to marry her boyfriend and have another baby, but the conservatorship would not allow her to. She accused her conservator of stopping her from having a contraceptive intrauterine device (IUD) removed so she could get pregnant.

She also said she had been put on the drug lithium - a common medicine for bipolar disorder - against her wishes, and that it had made her feel drunk and unable to converse.

"This conservatorship is doing me way more harm than good," she said.

"I'm not happy, I can't sleep. I'm so angry and I cry every day."