A mum brawled on stage with a dance school teacher who tried to blacken a rival studio by leaking confidential tax details, a court heard.

Diane Gregory fought with Linsey Garbutt, boss of the Elgeez School of Dance, Shipley, after a three-year feud sparked by Miss Gregory's children quitting the dance school.

Miss Gregory, of Carr Lane, Shipley, denied assaulting Miss Garbutt during the fight at the school's dance studio in October and was yesterday cleared of the charge.

But the two women were warned by magistrate's to "keep well away from each other in future" after the brawl left them both with minor injuries.

It was the third time the pair had faced each other in court, after Miss Gregory, 38, had a conviction of harassment against Miss Garbutt overturned on appeal.

Bingley Magistrates heard the pair had become enemies when tax worker Miss Garbutt sent a fake letter to her bosses at the Inland Revenue, purporting to be from Miss Gregory, claiming a rival school had not paid its taxes.

Miss Garbutt, 28, who works at the Inland Revenue at Shipley, had accessed the confidential information after several students - including Miss Gregory's two daughters - quit her school and signed up to a rival company.

Miss Gregory grew suspicious after she was sent a £250 cheque by the Inland Revenue thanking her for passing on the information. She contacted the police. Miss Garbutt was suspended from her job for six months after admitting sending the letter. During heated exchanges in court, Nigel Edwards, defending, said Miss Garbutt had "kicked several families out" of her dance school and claimed others had been forced to leave after suffering repeated "bad treatment".

Miss Gregory told the court that her daughters, now aged eight and 12, had left the school after one complained of "finger nail" marks after being lifted by Miss Garbutt during a routine.

Miss Garbutt broke down in tears as Mr Edwards accused her of telling the court "a pack of lies" about the events of October 21, when the two women came face-to-face on the stage of the deserted studio.

He said Miss Garbutt had a history of telling lies, including the false letter to the Inland Revenue and accused her of fabricating an earlier harassment charge.

The dance school boss had earlier told the court she was kicked and punched as she lay on the empty stage, and was left requiring treatment at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

She said Miss Gregory had deliberately targeted her while she was alone.

"If I had any idea she was in the club, then I would not have gone there by myself," said Miss Garbutt.

"If the manager had not arrived when he did, my injuries could have been a lot worse."

Presiding magistrate Ian Bramley said the bench could not be sure who had instigated the fight, which started after a row between the pair.

He told Miss Gregory she had "played a large part in what happened" but said Miss Garbutt's record of "telling untruths" counted against her.

"We don't think that we can really rely on Miss Garbutt's evidence and therefore it would be unsafe to find you guilty," he said. "But from now on, please keep out of each other's way."