Troubled She's The Man actress Amanda Bynes sectioned after allegedly setting fire to herself

Actress Amanda Bynes arriving for a court appearance in Manhattan earlier this month (Getty Images)

She’s The Man actress Amanda Bynes has been sectioned following a disturbance in Southern California during which she is alleged to have set fire to herself and the driveway of a residential property.

A spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, Don Aguilar, made no comment about the incident that prompted police to take Miss Bynes into custody and commit her for psychiatric evaluation.

But according to local media reports the 27-year-old actress started a fire in the driveway of a home in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks.

Website TMZ quotes an eye witness who claims the actress put a flaming cloth on top of a gas tank in an unsuccessful attempt to cause an explosion.

He alleges he came upon Miss Bynes as she was lying on the floor near to the driveway with her trouser leg on fire.

He said he put out the flames and that the actress didn’t appear to have been injured.

Passerby Andrew Liverpool told KABC he found Miss Bynes: "It's dark, it's 8:45 and I just see her laying down, stomach up and her pant legs on fire, a trail of, you know, fire and gas, and I pull over," he said.

The Ventura County Fire Department confirmed that it responded to an incident involving a gas can that was set on fire in a driveway and that Miss Bynes was at the scene.

It declined to comment on Miss Bynes’ alleged involvement in the fire which was extinguished by local residents.

Under California law a person may be detained for a mental health evaluation for up to 72 hours, known as a 5150 psychiatric hold.

No charges were filed and responding fire officials did not administer any medical care, Aguilar said.

Attempts to contact Miss Bynes’s lawyers have not yet been returned.

The former child star rose to fame age 13 when she had her own comedy show on the Nickelodeon television network.

There have been a number of reports over the last year concerning Miss Bynes’ increasingly erratic behaviour.

In May Miss Bynes was arrested after police were called to an apartment in New York where she is alleged to have been smoking marijuana. She was held on charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence and criminal possession of marijuana after allegedly throwing a bong out of the window as police.

She is currently on probation in California for driving on a suspended license.