A man accused of hacking into Britney Spears' Twitter account has been arrested.

The singer has been subject to numerous hacks on the social networking site, most recently in November last year, where a hacker declared her dedication to Satan worship. The message read: "I give myself to Lucifer every day for it to arrive as quickly as possible. Glory to Satan! I hope that the new world order will arrive as soon as possible! - Britney."

Francois Cousteix, 24, was taken in by police in France earlier this week, where he was questioned over allegations of illegally accessing Spears's Twitter account. The unemployed computer technician is also accused of hacking the online pages of US President Barack Obama and Lily Allen.

In an interview with French television network APF, Cousteix said: "I am not a hacker. I am a kind pirate. I did not act with a destructive aim... I wanted to warn them, to show up the faults in the system."

If convicted, Cousteix faces up to two years in prison and a £26,000 fine.