Kate Moss checks out of rehab

Kate Moss has left rehab and is looking forward to getting back to work. File picture / Reuters

LONDON - Supermodel Kate Moss, whose career began to unravel when pictures were published apparently showing her snorting large quantities of cocaine, has left a drug rehabilitation centre, her agent said.

The 31-year-old hit the headlines last month when the Daily Mirror published photographs allegedly showing her taking the drug, prompting some fashion labels to cancel contracts and future projects with Moss.

A spokesperson for her London model agency, Storm, confirmed she had left the Meadows Clinic in the United States earlier this week and was with friends there before returning to work.

She checked into the centre in September.

"Kate is in excellent spirits and looking forward to getting back to work. She would like to thank everyone for their messages of support as they have played a major part in helping her," the spokesperson said.

The London-born model will be reunited with her three-year-old daughter Lila in the next few days.

In 1998, Moss checked into London's Priory Clinic suffering from "exhaustion" and announced the following year that she had spent the previous decade modelling "drunk".

Moss has not admitted to the recent allegations made against her, although she issued a short statement shortly after the scandal broke in which she apologised to people she let down.

The allegations prompted retailer Burberry and Swedish-based fashion house Hennes and Mauritz to sever ties with one of the most famous faces in fashion, raising doubts over whether she could continue a successful modelling career.

France's Chanel also said it would not renew her contract when it expired.

But her backers say despite setbacks Moss remained a bankable star.

Storm said her modelling commitments were expected to take her to Los Angeles, Paris and New York over the coming months, and she was due to feature in the Pirelli calendar, released next month.

Moss may be questioned by police when she next returns to the country.

She was discovered by a modelling agency as a 14-year-old schoolgirl, and her waifish good looks have graced the covers of countless magazines.

- REUTERS