A DRUNKEN woman attempted to rob a bookmakers' manager at knifepoint while wearing a red wig.

After the failed hold-up, she returned to a nearby pub, where she was soon arrested, still wearing the disguise.

Durham Crown Court was told that Catherine Teasdale, a reformed alcoholic, lapsed one Sunday in April.

She appeared in the Reuben Page betting shop in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, County Durham, sporting the wig and brandishing a domestic knife with a broken point.

Teasdale demanded money but customers came to the manager's aid and she fled empty handed.

Andrew Walker, defending, described it as, "a shambolic attempt" to rob the shop manager.

He said: "She was extremely drunk and has almost no recollection of what took place. In fact, when she was arrested she was still wearing this ridiculous-sounding wig.

"She was an alcoholic but has been away from drink for eight years. She lapsed into drink again and had a huge amount of alcohol before the offence."

He said Teasdale's solicitors had arranged for a report by experts into her alcohol misuse, which was now awaited.

Teasdale, 48, of Mackays Mews, Front Street, Stanley, admitted attempted robbery.

The hearing was adjourned pending completion of the expert's report and Teasdale was bailed to return for sentencing in four weeks.