Police have been called out to their own CID Christmas party.

Staff at the Staincliffe Hotel, in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, reported that three patrol cars and police dogs were called to the bash for Cleveland Police's plain clothes detectives on Thursday night.

Sources said the call-out was over an argument between one of the police party and a woman and there had been no violence or arrests.

Jennifer Taylor, a manager at the hotel, said staff were unaware of any problem until the police arrived.

She told the Northern Echo: "I wasn't the duty manager that night but I know it wasn't us who actually called the police.

"What I do know, which was really quite annoying, is that we had a problem with eight men who smashed up the toilet the week before and we did call the police and they sent one officer on his own.

"On Thursday night, there's some disagreement and no ructions but they send three cars, including the dog section."

The hotel operations manager stressed there was no problem from the hotel's point of view, and said the whole incident boiled down to a misunderstanding.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: "Police were called but were unable to substantiate any complaint and there is no ongoing investigation.

"We contacted the lady on the Friday and she did not wish to make any complaint."