A woman accused of slashing the face of a Miss England finalist and leaving her requiring plastic surgery will go on trial.

China Gold, of London Road, Ditton appeared in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court today.

Judge Martin Huseyin granted her bail until the trial which is expected to last up to four days.

The 27-year-old spoke only to confirm her name before pleading not guilty to the charge.

She denied unlawfully slashing the face of Olivia Cooke, a 21-year-old professional golfer, in October last year in an incident outside a West Malling pub.

She has previously claimed the act was done in self-defence.

Cooke, a Miss England finalist from Barming, needed plastic surgery after the incident outside the Farmhouse pub in High Street, West Malling.

She appeared in court earlier this year charged with assault in relation to the same altercation - also claiming self-defence. She has not yet entered a plea to a revised charge of assault by beating.

The beauty queen needed 10 stitches to close a cut above her left eye as well as cosmetic surgery to hide the wound.

She also still experiences numbness in the area as a result of nerve damage.

Olivia's mum Julie Cooke, 46, pleaded guilty to ABH after punching Gold in the face - giving her a black eye - when she arrived at the pub following the fracas.

Both will appear again at Maidstone Magistrates' Court later this month.

Cooke qualified for the competition finals, held earlier in the summer, along with nine other girls but was unsuccessful.

She follows in the footsteps of her dad, Phil Cooke, who claimed the title of Mr UK in 1996.

Gold's trial is likely to start at the end of January.

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