Lindsay Lohan has checked into a California rehabilitation facility to begin a court-ordered 90-day treatment programme.

The Mean Girls star was expected to enrol in the luxury Seafield Center in New York's Hamptons, which had been approved by the court, after pleading no contest to charges relating to a car crash in California last summer (12).

However, she left the Big Apple on a flight bound for Los Angeles late on Wednesday night (01May13) and instead made her way to the Morningside Recovery clinic in Newport Beach, California. The last-minute change prompted her lawyer, Mark Heller, to head to a Los Angeles court early on Thursday in a bid to get the new treatment facility approved by the star's judge - even though Lohan had already checked in.

Prosecutor Terry White objected to the late alteration, arguing that he had only learned about Lohan's decision to switch programmes from the media and had not been given enough time to investigate the treatment centre.

White also expressed concerns about the quality of care provided by Morningside bosses, pointing out that executives had had their medical licence suspended in 2012 over an issue with the management of prescription drugs.

However, Judge James R. Dabney insisted the facility appeared to be acceptable, and ordered prosecutors to report back to him to give their official judgement by 10 May (13), reports Tmz.com.

Lohan had reportedly bailed on the Seafield Center as the facility bans patients from smoking.

Meanwhile, the troubled actress' father, Michael Lohan, insists his daughter had "no idea" that Morningside hadn't been approved as her rehab site when she checked in. He tells CNN.com, "It's not her fault. This poor kid was a mess before she left."

The actress avoided jail in a last-minute deal by pleading no contest to misdemeanour reckless driving and providing false information to police. She was ordered to spend 90 days in rehab and she must also attend 18 months of psychotherapy sessions and serve 30 days of community service.

In pleading no contest, Lohan admitted she had violated her probation in a 2011 shoplifting case.