A former US soldier who sued Northumbria Police over allegations that she suffered racist and sexist taunts by fellow officers has won £7,500 damages.

Jennifer Ord, 36, was part of a Northumbria Police promotion push when she left the US Army to join with her British husband.

But she claims she was subjected to a torrent of sexist comments and jibes about her accent from colleagues after joining in 1997.

When she complained to senior officers, she said a team was set up to probe her sex life in a bid to assassinate her character. She launched a discrimination claim against the force and yesterday won the out-of-court settlement.

Shortly after joining the force in 1997, she claimed she was subjected to constant sexist abuse and taunts about her American background while working in South Shields.

After an internal inquiry a senior colleague was found guilty of misconduct.

In 1999 she launched a bid to sue the force for sexist and racist discrimination and for victimisation suffered after launching her complaint.

The force said the settlement would be cheaper than defending the charges.