Amy Winehouse has been threatened with legal action after pulling out of a French music festival at the last minute.

The troubled singer had been expected to perform a headline slot at the Rock En Seine event in Paris last night. However, she remained at her home in London due to ill health, according to her spokesman.

A statement on the Rock En Seine website has now suggested that Winehouse will be sued for her absence.

"Amy Winehouse should have arrived on the site early Friday evening. We were told by her agent at 8:00 pm that she wasn't coming," organisers explained. The statement added that "no explanation of the exact reasons for her absence" was offered.

Winehouse's next scheduled performance is at the Bestival festival on the Isle of Wight next weekend. Her publicist has said that he cannot comment on whether she will be well enough to go ahead with the gig.