Los Angeles, Sep 17 (DPA) Singer Chris brown was singing the blues Wednesday as he began his 1,400-hour community labour sentence imposed for his assault of girlfriend Rihanna last year.

Pictures on the celebrity website TMZ.com showed Brown in his home state of Virginia wearing a reflective red vest and a red cap stooping to clean up the grounds of a police horse stable.

Brown's other duties during his six months of community labour will include graffiti removal, washing cars and roadside cleanup. He has also been slapped with a five-year probation period, a year of domestic violence classes and hefty fines.