Police have appealed for witnesses after a woman was verbally abused and attacked in the toilets of a North East festival at the weekend.

The 53-year-old victim suffered injuries to her hands and lost some of her hair during the incident at the FC Fest in Hartlepool over the weekend. 

 A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: "A 53-year-old woman was verbally abused then assaulted by another woman during FC Fest.

"It occurred on Saturday 15 June in the toilets inside the Pavilion Bar at Grayfields.

"The victim sustained injuries to her hands and loss of hair that required treatment at hospital the following day.

"Some women who were also present at the time of the assault intervened at the time."

Officers have been following numerous lines of enquiry and are keen to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the assault.

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They are also appealing for anyone who has not yet spoken with police to come forward, as well as anyone else with information or footage of the incident.

Contact Cleveland Police on the 101 number quoting reference number 112296.

If you don’t want to speak to police you can pass information anonymously to www.crimestoppers-uk.org or phone them on 0800 555 111.