LOS ANGELES - TROUBLED US starlet Lindsay Lohan was sent back to jail on Friday after failing a drugs test and violating her bail, just over two months after she got her first taste of life behind bars.

Judge Elden Fox of the Beverly Hills Superior Court denied bail to the 24-year-old after she tested positive for cocaine in a court-ordered test.

Lohan, who appeared stunned as she was led away in handcuffs, could be in jail for up to 30 days, after the judge set her next probation hearing for Oct 22.

Reports ahead of the court hearing had suggested she would get bail, and she arrived at the court dressed in what fashion-watchers said were Louboutin stilettos with a black top and white pleated skirt. A mug short released by the Los Angeles Police Department after she was detained showed her staring into the camera, in an orange prison gown.

Jail officials indicated there would be no early release for the actress. The judge refused to hear arguments from her lawyers that she should be given bail because of the relatively minor nature of the charges against her.

'Ms Lohan cannot be released early because this isn't a jail sentence,' said LA Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. 'She's being held by court order until her hearing on Oct 22. She will be held in the same conditions as her last stay, in a keep-away unit,' he told People magazine.