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

A major police operation was launched on Monday, after the bloodstained woman flagged down a car and told the driver she had carried out a serious assault on a man.

Officers and search and rescue volunteers, supported by the police helicopter, spent Monday on a manhunt in the area where she was picked up, looking for her alleged victim.

Despite an extensive search around the Jolly Drover pub outside Leadgate, near Consett, County Durham, they did not turn up a body or anyone seriously injured.

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

A trawl of the casualty wards of 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.

"However, our enquiries will continue."

The investigation was launched after the woman flagged down a passing car outside the Jolly Drover at around 2am on Monday. She told the driver she had attacked a man and needed to get home. The motorist told her to contact the police and she jumped out of the car and hailed a taxi.

The taxi was seen heading towards Stanley on the A692 road.

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, then released on police bail, pending further enquiries.

The woman told police she had been drinking in the Trades nightclub in John Street, Consett, on Sunday, and left at around 1.20am. But she could not explain how she was found walking more than two miles away near Leadgate.

Anyone with information on the mystery attack should contact the incident room at Consett police station on (01207) 504204, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.