Paris Hilton's three-weeks and two-days stint in the slammer has come to an end, with the blonde jailbird and hotel heiress walking free today.

According to reports, Hilton, who had been banged up for drink-driving related offences, left the all-women's jail in Lynwood, California in the early hours of Tuesday.

"She fulfilled her debt. She was obviously in good spirits. She thanked people as she left," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Hilton, who had originally been sentenced to 45 days, had seen the jail term reduced to 23 days for good behaviour.

Despite the leniency shown to the star it didn't stop her running for the Hollywood Hills just three days into the sentence, after a hysterical showdown led to her temporary release on unspecified "medical grounds".

But superior court judge Michael T. Sauer, who had originally sentenced the Simple Life star, insisted she return to complete the jail term handed down to her.

A few tantrums and tears later, tail-between-her-legs-Hilton returned to Lynwood to occasionally hunker down with her fellow convicts, though much of her time there was spent in a costly "special needs" unit away from the jail's 2,200 inmates.

She is expected to complete probation in March 2009 as long as she behaves herself and avoids getting into any more boozy scrapes with her driver's license.

Hilton also has the option of reducing that time by 12 months if she follows the footsteps of Naomi-mobile-phone-wielding-Campbell and does community service.

Mixtures of good, and er, not so good wishes, have already started flooding in to the star's MySpace page. ®

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