Amy Winehouse’s devoted father Mitch has revealed the singer is covered in nocotine patches in a bid to save her career.

In an emotional interview the cab driver told how doctors have warned his daughter she must stay off drugs if she wants to sing again.

The rake-thin singer is also "eating like a horse" in a new-found determination to kick the destructive habits that have plagued her career.

Winehouse, who has contracted emphysema, was rushed to hospital last week.

"She's covered in nicotine patches," Mitch told Radio 5 Live today.

"The only thing that can go into her lungs are fresh air. She faces a stark choice - either she sticks to it or she won't sing again.

Worried: Mitch Winehouse, pictured taking Amy to hospital last week, has revealed that she is currently covered in nicotine patches in bid to save her singing voice

"She's eating like a horse - she's 16 pounds heavier than the last time she was in hospital.

"There will be a decision on whether she can sing at Glastonbury.

"She understands she has to change. All she wants to do now is to sing," he added.

Yesterday Mitch told of how his world-famous daughter could be forced to wear a permanent oxygen mask to survive if she doesn't follow medical advice.

"To think this could be my beautiful 24-year-old daughter's life is preposterous. But if drugs mean more to her than breathing properly, then so be it.

"But the doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her," he said.

Winehouse collapsed at her North London home last week and was taken for tests at a London hospital by her father.

The extent of her condition has put in doubt her appearance at the Nelson Mandela birthday concert in Hyde Park on Friday with concerns that she may also pull out of Glastonbury the following day.

Mitch has urged her drug dealers and addict friends such as rocker Pete Doherty – who has been spending time with the 24-year-old since his release from prison last month – to stay away from her.

"I'm saying to those drug dealers, and they know who they are, if they are supplying crack to Amy, then they've got to take responsibility. I don't want her hanging out with her mates like Pete Doherty either," he said.

He revealed that the singer’s 26-year-old husband Blake Fielder-Civil – who is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to GBH and conspiring to pervert justice -  has vowed to come off drugs and has been calling her every day "to help her stay strong".

Illness: Amy is being observed by a nurse 24 hours a day at private London hospital The Clinic but is expected to be released in a week

"Blake apologised to me for getting Amy into drugs and says he's going to try and put it right.

"Blake was clean when I saw him but he's told me he wants to go into rehab. We've organised it so that as soon as he's out, that happens.

"He wants to go from zero to hero. It's very hard for him being in prison, but at least he's been trying," he said.

Emphysema – usually caused by smoking - is a progressive lung condition which ages the lung’s prematurely and leaves sufferers struggling for breath.

The damage caused by the disease is irreversible and can lead some sufferers to become dependent on oxygen supplies.

The 57-year-old – who split from the troubled star’s mother Janis when she was a teenager – says that she is in the "early stages of the illness".

"The doctors have said that if she had continued the way she was going she could have ended up an invalid - she wouldn't have been able to breathe.

Close: Mitch has warned rocker Pete Doherty to stay away from his daughter Amy

"With smoking the crack cocaine and the cigarettes her lungs are all gunked up. There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She's got 70 per cent lung capacity. "

Winehouse – who has suffered two seizures in the past year – was also suffering from irregular heartbeats when she was admitted to private London hospital The Clinic, the condition is now being controlled by medication.

The singer is now desperate to turn her life around and has promised to stay clean, recently starting a drug replacement programme,

But her father admits that he is terrified that his she will fall into her old habits after she is released from hospital – where is being observed by a nurse 24 hours a day – and be "dead in three months".

Happier times: Amy with husband Blake Fielder-Civil before he was arrested. He has been calling the singer every day to 'keep her strong'

"My family have been criticised for not doing enough for Amy. Some say we should put her in a room and throw away the key but that's against the law. In our limited way, we are doing the best we can and we are being guided by the doctors and psychologists

"There's no need to cry yet. If, God forbid, doctors said they can't help her, then that's when we can have a good cry.

"But if she doesn't go back to drugs then she can lead this magnificent life. With her husband Blake too, if he gets clean as well."

He added: "We are praying that that's what Amy really wants. She seems resolute.

"I've started to see my old Amy back. We'll just have to see how great her resolution is," he told the Sunday Mirror.