A WOMAN has been cleared of deliberately breaking a neighbour's finger during a long-standing dispute over a property boundary.

Hazel Rothery claimed she was attacked by Linda McCormack after an argument over a missing piece of wood securing a fence post.

But a jury at Worcester Crown Court retired for just 25 minutes before finding Mrs McCormack not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm.

The next-door neighbours had lived in Grafton Crescent, Bromsgrove, for 22 years but fell out in 1995 over some plants.

Police had been contacted a number of times during rows about the boundary and complaints were made to the district council.

Mrs Rothery was painting her shed on September 7 last year when she was quizzed about the missing wood but ignored her neighbour.

She alleged her arm was grabbed and her ring finger broken. She was treated at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

But Mrs McCormack, aged 48 - who had no previous convictions - described how she was greeted with a smirk when she asked about the wood.

She had put it in place to hold up a dangerous fence post, she said, but it had disappeared.

She accused her neighbour of splattering her with paint, grabbing her finger and trying to break it. She was also scratched in the face.

Mrs McCormack insisted she only tried to defend herself.

Defence counsel Graeme Simpson claimed Mrs Rothery got accidentally hurt after falling during the struggle.

He said Mrs Rothery told the jury her face was also cut - but it was not in her police interview.

Mr Simpson alleged Mrs Rothery had forcibly grabbed Mrs McCormack's hand, squeezed it and warned three times she was going to break her fingers.

After the case, Mrs McCormack said: "I am pleased that justice has been served and my name has been cleared of the alleged charge.

"I elected to go to crown court to make sure the matter was dealt with properly and once and for all."