Michael Jackson has been pictured shopping in Las Vegas with his children in a wheelchair.

The pop star, who is expected to release a comeback album this year, is reported to have spent two hours in a bookshop while wearing pyjamas and slippers.

One onlooker told the Sun newspaper that Jackson looked a “shadow of his former self" as a minder wheeled him across the street.

“He seemed too weak even to get out of the chair to cross the road himself. He stayed in the store for two hours and wheeled himself around in the chair the whole time," they added.

Jackson, who turns 50 next month, is widely rumoured to be planning a special tour to coincide with the release of his new album.

(by Jason Gregory)