A LEDBURY licensee, accused of torching the pub she ran, causing £1m damage, has been cleared of arson.

The jury of eight women and four men took just two hours yesterday to deliver the not guilty verdict to the charge levied at Janet Kaye at Hereford Crown Court.

Kaye held her face in her hands and wept when she heard the verdict.

During the four-day trial, the court heard The Seven Stars had burned to the ground in the early hours of Sunday, July 22, last year.

The blaze had quickly taken hold of the 16th Century building, and flames spread to neighbouring shops and homes on The Homend causing severe damage.

More than 70 firefighters from across the two counties were called to the blaze.

The prosecution had alleged 43-year-old Kaye, who ran the pub with her boyfriend John Moorcroft, had either deliberately set fire to a cardigan lying in the sitting room, or had drunkenly set a chair alight with a cigarette.

According to evidence given by three female police officers and Mr Moorcroft, Kaye also admitted starting the fire, saying on one occasion, "I did it, I don't care".

But the jury were convinced by Roger Harrison, defending, who said Kaye's statements could not be relied on as she was too drunk at the time.

Remembered nothing

Kaye herself admitted to the court she had drunk around three bottles of wine in the hours leading up to the fire, and remembered nothing between leaving another town pub and seeing The Seven Stars on fire as she watched from the pavement.

Evidence given by expert witness Dr Ronald Denny indicated Kaye would have been almost three times the drink-drive limit when she made some of the statements, and could have been confused and disorientated by a sleeping tablet she had taken before the fire started.

Punch Pubs Company, which owns The Seven Stars, said planning permission had been given for restoration work and it was awaiting the appointment of a contractor to bring the pub back to its former glory.

The company declined to comment on the verdict.