POLICE have urged the public to help them find a prisoner who has escaped from jail in York.

Leah Dixon, 20, absconded from HMP Askham Grange in December, but police have been unable to find her.

They only made public her disappearance today, and asked for the public's help.

Dixon, from Hartlepool, was serving a three-year sentence for grievous bodily harm with intent against a woman at a pub in Hartlepool.

She is described as white, 5ft 3in tall, with slim build, shoulder-length dyed blonde hair which she wears in a ponytail, and green eyes. She has a Hartlepool/North East accent and has a love heart tattoo on her right wrist and a bar piercing on her belly button.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "Extensive enquiries have been ongoing since she absconded from the prison on 19 December. These have largely been focused in the Hartlepool and Middlesbrough areas where she has connections."

Can you help?

Anyone with information is asked to phone the police control room on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, quoting reference 12150225168.