A WOMAN feared for her life when three dogs attacked her as she walked to work, a court heard yesterday.

Narinder Kaur Batth needed 300 stitches and spent ten days in hospital after a boxer, Staffordshire bull terrier and Jack Russell attacked her last November, on the B1285 road in Murton, County Durham.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the three dogs were so out of control that, even when workers from the nearby Thomas Brothers Haulage depot hit them with scaffolding poles, they continued to attack.

Some of the workers climbed a fence to escape from the dogs. Eventually, foreman David Hall drove a van at the animals and accidentally ran over the boxer dog.

David Blench, who witnessed the attack, said the dogs were fighting in the street before they jumped at Mrs Batth, pulling her to the ground and biting her.

He said: "I did fear for the lady's life - it is one of the scariest things I have ever seen."

He went to help her, but was bitten on the thigh, and needed hospital treatment.

In a statement, Mrs Batth described being on the ground, as the dogs bit her.

She said: "These dogs were so aggressive and dangerous the thought of them killing me crossed my mind."

Three dogs belonging to Lisa Cowley, 30, of Murton, County Durham, answering the descriptions of those involved in the attack were picked out at a canine identity parade.

She denies three counts of having a dog dangerously out of control in a public place.

The trial continues.