A court had to be evacuated when police used pepper spray on a woman suspected of taking drugs in the toilets.

Court five at Brighton Magistrates was swiftly emptied after the incident on Wednesday.

Two women awaiting a court appearance were led away by police officers, one in handcuffs, after being pepper sprayed because one refused to co-operate with being searched.

She was allegedly waving a bloodied syringe about.

One witness said: "There were two women in the loos who had been in there a long time so a woman went in to see what they were doing.

"They said they were getting changed ready for their appearance in court but it was obvious they weren't.

"One of the ushers went to get some police officers who were in the building.

"They got them out and took them into the interview room.

"Then the next thing we knew they had let off their the spray and everyone was cleared out."

Another witness said: "I got out almost immediately but I can still feel it at the back of my throat and I can't stop coughing."

Although the spray was let off in a small interview room the door was open and the ushers and visitors in the waiting room suffered secondary effects of coughing and streaming eyes.

The incident took place in the basement of the court, which contains one courtroom. This prevented more people being affected.

A spokesman for the court committee said: "The situation was dealt with very quickly and discreetly and we are very proud of the way our team operated.

"The police and our staff acted very efficiently."

One of the officers said: "The ushers did very well."

Ushers were seen donning plastic gloves and carrying a sharps bin into the area affected.

A 32-year-old woman was arrested.