A SEARCH is on for a savage dog which left a teenage girl scarred for life.

Schoolgirl Eleanor Barwick had to received 40 stitches for facial wounds, after the dog attacked her in Market Place, Loftus, east Cleveland.

Police and a dog warden are looking for animal, which might be a black collie.

Eleanor, 16, has been unable to give a full description of the animal.

Eleanor, of Cowscote Crescent, Loftus, said: "I was just walking along when the dog went past, jumped up and then bit me. Then it just barked at me and ran off.

"I am going to be scarred for life. It's bad that someone could let their dog out to roam the streets and do this."

Eleanor, who is due to start A- levels at Guisborough's Prior Pursglove College, next month, was taken to The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, where she was in theatre for an hour.

She was then kept in hospital overnight.

Her mother, Debra, said: "I am just worried this dog is still in Loftus and could bite another child.''