Amy Winehouse's father has told of his fears over her new friendship with "scumbag" Pete Doherty.

Cab driver Mitch Winehouse said he was "apoplectic" to see the drug-addled Babyshambles star out with his daughter.

"I do worry about people like Pete Doherty. He's a scumbag," Mitch told Grazia magazine.

"I flipped when I saw him sitting with Amy backstage at her Brixton gig. That night I went crazy. My wife thought I was going to have a heart attack, I was apoplectic."

Amy, 24, is battling her own drug addictions and is said to be close to breaking point over husband Blake Fielder-Civil's incarceration.

He is currently remanded in custody on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice in relation to an assault case.

The singer's father told Grazia that painfully thin Amy suffers from "self-loathing".

"It's clear there are self-image issues, self-loathing. We were recently looking at photos of her five years ago, when she was curvy, and she said, 'I look really happy there'. I said, 'Aren't you happy now, darling?' And she said, 'I've been happier'. There was a realisation there.

"I know the real problem is she's depressed about Blake being in prison. I wasn't in favour of the marriage, but they are married and I will support them, and he's shown while he's been in prison a level of maturity that he didn't have before.

"I haven't seen him, but Amy says he's put on two stone and he's asking for her help to improve in a number of ways, and that's good to hear."

Amy's family has been criticised for not stepping in to demand she goes to rehab.

But Mitch said: "Right now, she's not very well. I've tried talking to her but getting angry won't help.

"People wonder why the family don't drag her by her hair into rehab. Believe me, my first instinct is to get hold of her, pick her up and take her back to my house and lock her away.

"But I've spoken to the finest drug counsellors in the world, and they've said that is exactly the wrong thing to do."

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