A MIDDLESBROUGH woman has pleaded guilty to brandishing a 9in kitchen knife and a snooker cue following a neighbourhood dispute.

Joy Laver, of Saltersgill Avenue, was given a 12-month conditional discharge after magistrates accepted she had acted out of character.

The 45-year-old was arrested at about 6am on October 24 last year after police were called to a disturbance outside her apartment.

Teesside Magistrates' Court heard Laver was holding a 2ft 6in snooker cue and black- handled 9in kitchen knife at shoulder height when police arrived.

Laver dropped the weapons when an officer pulled out his baton and called for back-up.

Paul Dixon, mitigating, said: "There had been some problem with neighbours. One had been brandishing a knife and, without thinking this through properly, she picked up a knife and the cue.

"She didn't intend to carry through the threat."

He added: "It was an act completely out of character."

Magistrates gave Laver a 12-month conditional discharge for pleading guilty to the two charges of carrying an offensive weapon in public. She was also ordered to pay £60 towards the prosecution costs.