DETECTIVES have admitted they are baffled after a blood-spattered woman claimed she had attacked a man.

A police operation was launched on Monday, after the bloodstained woman flagged down a car and told the driver she had assaulted a man.

Officers and search and rescue volunteers, supported by the police helicopter, searched the area near the Jolly Drover pub outside Leadgate, near Consett, County Durham, where she was picked up.

Investigators said all they had found was a shoe belonging to the woman who reported the attack.

A check of casualty wards in North-East hospitals also failed to turn up any potential assault victims.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Reddick, of Durham Constabulary, said: "Nobody has come forward to say they have been the victim of an assault.

"Apart from a shoe belonging to the woman we arrested, nothing of any consequence was found in the search.

"It would be fair to say that, for the moment, we are dealing with something of a mystery."

The investigation was launched after the woman flagged down a passing car outside the Jolly Drover at about 2am on Monday.

A member of the public contacted police and they arrested a woman in Reynolds Close, Stanley, on suspicion of assault. She was questioned at Consett police station on Monday night and released on police bail, pending further inquiries.

The woman told police she had been drinking in the Trades nightclub, John Street, Consett, on Sunday, and left at 1.20am.

Anyone with information is asked to call Consett police on (01207) 504204, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.