Amy Winehouse's mother 'too ill' to help her

Amy Winehouse's mother says she is too ill to help control her troubled daughter.

Janis Winehouse, 52, suffers from multiple sclerosis and fears the stress of assisting the junkie singer could make it worse.

She said: "I just can’t do all that running around to wherever there’s been a problem."

Janis' ex-husband, Mitch, has often tried to help Amy, 24, battle her addiction.

She said: "He does a great job on behalf of both of us."

Meanwhile, taxi driver Mitch, 57, has said he is "extremely distressed” over Amy's self-harming.

He said: "I saw the cuts and told Amy that her arm didn't look good. But she just said, ‘It's nothing'.

"Amy is not as responsive as we would like. It is worrying. It's a very painful situation."

Amy went to visit incarceratted husband Blake Fielder-Civil at North London's Pentonville prison early last week -- but was refused entry.

Adds Mitch: "Amy turned up late and she had a problem getting through security.

"I saw the cuts on her arms and commented on it.

"But we are once again in that same situation. She's an adult and what can we do about it?"