A woman charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a lurcher dog has pleaded not guilty.

Marie Staniforth, 31, of Boot, Eskdale, denied the charges at Workington Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The charge states that Ms Staniforth "failed to act, namely by unreasonably failing to adequately investigate and treat the cause of its poor body condition."

The two-year-old dog, called Spot by the RSPCA, was found on the Leconfield Industrial Estate in Cleator Moor in February.

The trial is now set for September 27 and 28 at Workington Magistrates' Court.