Miley Cyrus has reportedly advised close friend Justin Bieber to stay out of the limelight for a while after a number of incidents in recent months.

Friends are worried that the teen star is on a slippery slope downwards after a number of incidents including spitting at a neighbour and getting himself thrown out of a club for underage drinking which could see him face legal action.

Cyrus has advised him to take some time out of the public eye and insists that Bieber has just made “dumb” mistakes.

Speaking to The People, he said: "I told Justin to take a bit of time out and people aren't so obsessed with you and nit-pick.

"When you're not around, all they want is your music. They want to see what the next thing is. But when your music is out they just want to talk s**t about you."

"When you're a worldwide star, everyone sees everything. Lots of people make a video and put it on Instagram, some people might think it's funny but because it's Justin Bieber, it's like really bad.

"I always tell him just to be cool and not talk about it because when you talk it fuels the fire. He's still stupid though. But everyone does dumb stuff when they are messed up."

Bieber is currently in the midst of his world tour.