A Hythe woman bit off part of the finger of a rival in a nightclub brawl...and then spat it out in front of staff, it has been claimed.

Dionne Butterworth was then alleged to have later boasted to pals: "It tasted like the sket* she is".

Butterworth, 19, of St Nicholas Terrace, Hythe has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Letitia Chapman, 23.

Prosecutor John Fitzgerald told a jury at Canterbury Crown Court: "The incident took place on New Year's Eve in 2012.

"Ms Chapman went out to celebrate with her mates, no doubt having on her gladrags on and after having consumed a few drinks.

"On the same evening, Butterworth, quite independently, did the same thing and the two girls met in a club called Onyx at 2 am on New Year's Day 2013."

The prosecutor said the two had consumed alcohol and an argument broke out, which turned into a fight.

And by the time the two had been prized apart, Ms Chapman was missing the end of one of her fingers.

"It had been bitten off by the defendant."

Ms Chapman at the time was dating a Mark Boulton whose former lover was a friend of Butterworth and her pal Rhea Giles.

During the evening Chapman claimed that Butterworth and Ms Giles kept deliberately bumping into Mr Boulton.

"In the lobby Ms Chapman and Mr Boulton came across these two troublemakers, Butterworth and her friend. Rhea Giles barged again in Mr Boulton, said something and then punched him in the face.

"This resulted in Ms Chapman standing in front of her boyfriend to shield him from this totally unnecessary attack.

"It then sparked a result in others and Ms Chapman became scared."

"I screamed out when she bit into my bone. My finger was in her mouth for a good few minutes" - Letitia Chapman

Eventually staff at the club - where Ms Chapman had once worked - were forced in intervene to stop a punch up between two men, Ms Giles' brother and Mr Boulton.

While that fight was going on, the two women began scrapping "scratching, pulling hair and throwing punches" - all of which was caught on the nightclub's CCTV.

Mr Fitzgerald told how doorstaff watched as Butterworth "chewed" on Ms Chapman's finger, "biting down with aggression", he claimed.

He said one of the staff saw her bite off the end of the finger before spitting it onto the floor.

Later a taxi driver overheard six females in his cab talking about the incident after being thrown out of the club.

One of the women asked: "How did the finger taste?

Butterworth is alleged to have replied: "Tasted like the sket* she is."

Another girl asked: "What made you bite her finger?"

Butterworth retorted: "Because she put it in my mouth like a fishhook", it was alleged.

She was later arrested after police identified her from her Facebook account and admitted she had been "Can't walk drunk" but initially denied biting.

Ms Chapman told the jury that there had been "bad turf" between the two groups because of the ending of a relationship between Mr Boulton and another girl.

Ms Chapman said after being confronted by Butterworth she lashed out "because I was worried about getting jumped".

As the women began fighting, Ms Chapman's finger was in Butterworth's mouth.

She added: "I screamed out when she bit into my bone. My finger was in her mouth for a good few minutes."

The trial continues.

*A Sket is defined in an urban dictionary as a young woman with a bad reputation.