Whitney Houston 'feels great' as she arrives for British tour

American pop diva Whitney Houston arrived in Britain on Thursday to continue her interrupted world tour and insisted she was "feeling great" despite a bout of ill health.

The 46-year-old singer was forced to pull out of a concert in Paris and re-schedule her first two gigs in Britain after being hospitalised in the French capital with a respiratory infection.

Houston, who checked into a hotel in central London, said: "I'm feeling great, I'm just ready to move on and continue my world tour."

She dismissed suggestions she was on a downward spiral due to drugs as "ridiculous".

She said: "At this point, I just don't respond. I don't even read it."

Houston continued: "I'm doing what I love to do, which is singing. The best part is seeing all of my fans around the world."

After racking up a string of worldwide hits in the 1980s, Houston suffered a decline in record sales, run-ins with the police over drug use and a divorce from singer Bobby Brown.

She had been due to take to the stage in Manchester on Thursday and Friday, with a performance in Glasgow on Sunday, but the Scottish date will now take place on May 1 and the Manchester gigs have been moved to June 16-17.

The British leg of her tour is now set to start in Birmingham on Tuesday.