Officials in Newport Beach, California are keen to shut down the rehab facility Lindsay Lohan walked away from after less than an hour earlier this month (May13), insisting it operates in violation of a city ordinance barring commercial recovery centres in residential areas.

Lohan checked in to Morningside Recovery in Lido Village on 2 May (13) to begin her court-ordered, 90-day rehab, but she chose not to stay there and instead began her lockdown stint at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage the following morning (03May13).

Now it appears Morningside Recovery bosses did not have a license to provide alcohol or drug treatment as required when Lohan was sentenced, and there are bigger problems ahead for the rehab facility - because it operates in neighbourhoods of single-family homes, in violation of a local ordinance, according to Newport Beach City Attorney Aaron Harp.

It's one of seven area rehab centres under threat of closure for their proximity to residential neighbourhoods.