A WOMAN seen kissing passionately in a village pub was stabbed to death in a "brutal sustained attack" just hours later.

Regulars at the Hardwick Hotel in Blackhall, near Peterlee, County Durham, said the murder victim, named by police yesterday as mother-of-three Lisa Leckenby, 28, was asked to leave on Saturday afternoon.

The following morning she was found stabbed to death at her terraced home in Tenth Street, Blackhall, less than half a mile away.

Ms Leckenby and a male companion had spent part of Saturday afternoon drinking in the Hardwick Hotel in Middle Street.

The manager, who declined to be named, said: “I hadn’t seen the couple before, but they were in here on Saturday afternoon.

“They were kissing passionately, all over each other, so much so that regulars were complaining.

“After a short while, one of my bar staff told me she had refused to serve them any more drink because the girl had obviously had too much.

“The man asked my staff member to order them a taxi and they left without any argument.

“I had thought nothing of the incident until yesterday when CID came in here asking questions.”

Neighbours said Miss Leckenby had only lived in the village for a matter of weeks. One local resident, a pizza delivery driver, said: “I would come home in the early hours and want to go to sleep. But I would be kept awake by loud music and shouting.

“She lived with a man, but he only seemed to be around at weekends. Neither of them were from Blackhall, they had only moved into the village recently.”