A woman branded a "hooligan" by a judge was yesterday jailed for two years for making racist threats to a takeaway owner.

Stacey Ord, 21, who was the subject of an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) for her unruly behaviour in West Cornforth, breached that order by her actions at the Basmati premises in the village.

Durham Crown Court was told her nuisance behaviour had previously been partly blamed for driving an author from the village.

Ord threatened to do the same to the brothers who ran the Basmati after an incident where a number of young women were asked to leave the shop.

On a further occasion, police attending a report of eggs being thrown at the premises saw Ord driving up and down the nearby High Street in a car.

She was playing loud music with the windows wound down, breaching the terms of the Asbo, imposed in March 2005.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said on another occasion she shouted racist abuse at one of the Basmati owners, who is from Bangladesh, leading to her further arrest.

Ord, of The Village Farm, West Cornforth, who also lived at Beechfield Rise, in Coxhoe, while on bail, admitted racially-aggravated threatening, abusive words and behaviour, and three counts of breaching her Asbo.

Annelise Haugstad, mitigating, said: "She didn't set out to target anyone through membership of another group, but she clearly got into a dispute and used entirely the wrong language."

Miss Haugstad added that Ord intended to move from the area, following her sentence.

Jailing her, Judge Richard Lowden told Ord: "It's quite clear from the facts of this case that you're simply a hooligan.

"You consistently commit public order offences and you're a thorough nuisance.

"It's not the Asbo that causes you trouble, it's your behaviour that led to it and the persistent breaches that is the trouble."