A dog which bit a toddler staying at a Hove guest house has been banned from the building by magistrates.

Owners of Sammy, a Shar-Pei, which also attacked a male customer, have been told it can no longer be kept at their seafront guest house.

Brighton magistrates heard that Phillip McCann was attacked by the dog while a guest at Palm Court, in Kingsway, Hove, last November.

Lee Kirkhope, aged three, was also bitten on the hand last month when he tried to stroke the dog.

The dog's owners, Genifer Best and her son Nicholas, denied failing to keep their pet under proper control in the first attack but admitted failing to keep the dog under proper control in the attack on the boy.

Magistrates heard Lee had arrived at the guest house on September 10 with his family, where they had been placed by Brighton and Hove City Council's housing department. The following evening, Lee tried to stroke the dog, which was behind a child safety gate in the doorway of the lounge.

Len Batten, prosecuting for the council, told the court how the boy's mother, Skye, described the incident.

He said: "She heard savage growling and an almighty scream and saw blood pouring from his wrist. It was obvious he needed hospital treatment."

Mr McCann told the court he was placed at the guesthouse by the housing department and had been there for about a month when the attack happened on November 5 last year.

As he walked through the lounge the dog jumped up at him and bit his arm. He also had wounds on his neck and legs.

Mrs Best said the dog was kept in the lounge to guard the front door after a spate of thefts. Guests were told the lounge was private and were always warned to keep out.

The magistrates ruled Sammy had not been kept under proper control in the first attack. They ordered the owners to keep their pet under proper control in the future and said it should not go to the guest house while open for business. They were ordered to pay costs of £500 each.