AN 11-year-old runaway stunned drinkers in a North-East pub by singing and dancing for money while she was being hunted by police.

Chantelle White, who has a rare medical condition which leaves her with no concept of danger, gave two care staff looking after her the slip near Peterlee, east Durham.

She turned up in the Bambooza pub, in High Street, Stockton, eight hours later, singing and dancing for the entertainment of drinkers.

Chantelle walked into Stockton police station, 15 miles from where she disappeared, after evading officers who responded to a call from the pub.

Leeanna Lane, manager of Bambooza, described the scene in the bar on Monday night.

She said: "Apparently she told bar staff that her dad was in another pub just up the road.

"This little girl was then break-dancing on the dance floor. She just showed off her break-dancing skills then she left.

"I'm glad to hear that she was eventually found safe and well."

Chantelle, who police said had gone missing about 140 times, ran off as she was being taken home from an out-of-hours activity club in Fencehouses, near Chester-le-Street.

She leapt from the staff members' vehicle when they dropped off another youngster, who also has behavioural problems, in the Blackhall area of Peterlee.

Police said they believed Chantelle caught a bus from Blackhall to Hartlepool, before she made her way to Stockton, turning up at the police station at 11.30pm.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "She was found singing for her supper in a pub in Stockton.

"She seems to be resourceful and almost without fear."

Detectives said on Monday night that they were concerned for the youngster's safety, but confirmed yesterday that she was safe and back with her family in South Shields, South Tyneside.

A spokesman for South Tyneside Council said: "Chantelle is not in the care of the local authority, but is subject to very close support from social services, education and health, who are working very hard, together with her parents, to secure a safe and proper environment for her special educational needs.

"All the circumstances surrounding her absconding will be examined by us.