Amanda Bynes' uncle: She needs help

Los Angeles - After a series of misdemeanors, the uncle of the troubled actress Amanda Bynes has come out saying that he believes she "needs help" and that her "battle with instability" could cost her more than just a stay in jail.

This comes shortly after the 26-year-old actress was photographed last week smoking what appeared to be a drug pipe, while driving around with a suspended licence and had her car impounded earlier this week.

"She needs to stop drinking and driving. She needs help," her uncle, Ronald Bynes, told Celebuzz.

Amanda 'was not drunk'

"Her father doesn't want to talk about her and often changes the subject," he told the website.

"The problem is there's no correspondence between Amanda and her parents. I don't even think they know what's going on with her. They're very upset about her recent problems, but they're in the dark."

According to her uncle, the Bynes family was not aware that Amanda might be abusing alcohol. Her uncle went on to point out that earlier this year her father told People magazine that his daughter "was not drunk" the night of her DUI arrest and insisted that she "doesn’t drink".

"I never knew she drank," he uncle said. "As far as her dad knew, she never drank before. I don't know if she did it privately."

Committing to rehab

Reports have been circulating that Amanda is now committing to a 30-day in-patient programme at an undisclosed Southern California rehab clinic to avoid jail.

In recent months, the actress has had her driving licence suspended after she failed to submit to a sobriety test and is facing a court appearance on 21 September.

"I'm just worried something worse may happen to her," her uncle said.