A Staffordshire bull terrier cross escaped from its home in Grassington and went for a woman out walking her dogs, Skipton magistrates heard.

The ten-year-old dog, called Ben, repeatedly went for the two Labradors and two golden retrievers being walked in Chapel Street by Susan Payne and her partner, the court was told.

When Ms Payne tried to force the dog away from her pets, it took hold of her leg, leaving a bruise through her wellington boot, it was alleged.

The police were called and an officer came across Ben trying to get into a house in Chapel Street. Shortly afterwards, his owner, Karen Armstrong, returned from taking her grandchild swimming.

Armstrong, who admitted being the owner of a dog and allowing it to be dangerously out of control in a public place on August 17, had immediately taken action to prevent it happening again, the court heard.

In mitigation, John Mewies, who produced testimonials for both Armstrong and the dog, both of previous good character, said his client could not understand how the dog had got out of the house.

He said the door had not been locked because of a fault with the lock, and Armstrong could only assume Ben had got out when someone had called on her.

He added that Armstrong had previously lived in a more rural location but had moved following the death of her husband and accepted that Ben’s freedom had been curtailed.

Mr Mewies said Armstrong was very apologetic and had offered compensation.

She had also had a new lock fitted on her door and got a muzzle for Ben for when he went out.

Magistrates told Armstrong they accepted she had taken steps to control Ben in future and fined her £215 with costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £21.

They also ordered her to pay £50 compensation to Ms Payne.

A contingency destruction order was made on Ben putting Armstrong under notice that he must be under proper control with a muzzle in future when in a public place.

If he behaved dangerously again, he could be destroyed.