A Greenhithe mother has been jailed for six years after biting off a chunk of a woman's nose in a 'shark-style attack' during a children's pantomime at Butlins.

Tina Love, 28, of Acacia Road, head-butted mother-of-three Julie McDonald before biting off part of her nose and spitting it out on to the floor.

A court heard the attack in front of 450 people - including many children - followed a "stupid and childish dispute" over whose table was whose at Butlins in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.

Realising the seriousness of her actions, Love tried to leave the theatre venue but was stopped by security guards.

Part of Ms McDonald's nose had to be reattached during surgery following Love's "appalling" attack on her on April 11 2013, prosecutors said.

Chichester Crown Court heard Love lunged at Ms McDonald, who was due to return home the following morning with her three children, aged nine to 16.

Prosecutor Rachel Beckett described the incident as a "shark attack" which left Ms McDonald scarred for life and suffering low self-esteem.

In a victim impact statement read by Ms Beckett in court, Ms McDonald, then 47, said the attack left her living a "nightmare that I just can't seem to wake up from".

Her statement said: "We attended the theatre that evening looking forward to the pantomime. My two younger children had gone to the front of the stage to watch the show whilst (my daughter) had taken her homework to the show to study for her exams.

"What happened to me next has devastated me beyond words. The assault on me was unwarranted, unprovoked and has left me scarred for life.

"I was left in the theatre covered in blood with one of my children next to me as I screamed out in shock and pain."

Ms McDonald said she was rushed to hospital, and had two black eyes, a scar across the top of her nose and a yellow surgical sponge pinned to her face to hold her nose together.

Sleepless nights, anxiety and fear followed the attack, she added, and she cannot breathe easily from her misshapen nose, which she has to cover in sun-screen in all seasons as it reddens.

Ms McDonald's statement went on: "You can't hide from this. It is there every day staring me in the face when I look in the mirror and I have to deal with this for the rest of my life."

Love was found guilty of wounding with intent following a trial which ended last month.

Neil Guest, defending, said she will lose her local authority home and be separated from her three children, aged four, five and eight.

Jailing her, Recorder Mark Milliken-Smith QC said it was a "tragic case" in which everyone had suffered, including Love's own children.