A teenager needed 60 stitches after being attacked by a dog - which is still on the loose.

Nichola Jackson, 16, suffered repeated bites to her face as she chatted with friends.

Nichola, from South Shields, was with friends in Consett, County Durham, when the animal - a cross between an American Pit Bull and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier - attacked without warning.

She spent more than an hour in emergency surgery.

Nichola needed 60 stitches after the attack

The dog had to be dragged off the screaming youngster during the attack, which happened on 18 August, but details of which have only just been released.

She needed 25 stitches outside and a further 35 inside her mouth.

Doctors say she will need further plastic surgery.

A Durham police spokesman said: "This was a particularly nasty attack which left the 16-year-old girl with terrible facial injuries.

Boy savaged

"An investigation has been launched. At the moment we have not been able to trace the dog or its owners."

Nichola's mother, Lisa Donaldson, said: "This animal should be destroyed.

"If the owners have any conscience they will have it destroyed.

"If this had been a small child God only knows what would have happened."

On 16 August 12-year-old Sean Young had to have a metal plate inserted in his arm after being attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier just a few miles away in Coxhoe, County Durham.

Sean, from Sedgefield, was bitten 23 times.

The dog was captured and put down.