Chris Brown praised by judge for probation work

Brown has nearly completed his required domestic violence counselling

US singer Chris Brown has been praised by a judge in Los Angeles for his "consistent" community service work.

The 21-year-old was given five years of probation last August and six months of community labour after pleading guilty to assaulting pop star Rihanna.

Seen recently in the film Takers, Brown has been cleaning roads and removing graffiti in his home state of Virginia.

During a brief court hearing, Judge Patricia Schnegg said he had been "working diligently" on his duties.

"Out of thousands of probationers, no one has done a better or more consistent job than you have," she said on Thursday.

"I really want to commend you for taking responsibility and for actually working diligently to complete all the things the court has required of you."

Brown has almost completed the domestic violence counselling he was required to undertake as part of his sentence.

"Obviously he's gratified and he's working hard to live up to everyone's expectations," said his lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Brown was arrested in February 2009 after attacking Rihanna, his then-girlfriend, on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

The singer, whose hits include Run It! and Kiss Kiss, later said he was "very sad and very ashamed" of his actions.