A LEDBURY licensee who allegedly torched her 16th century pub, causing £1m damage, told a court she felt "guilty and responsible" when she saw the building go up in flames.

Janet Kaye said she had "a thousand feelings going through her head" as she watched The Seven Stars burn on Sunday, July 22, last year, and thought about the events every day, Hereford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Giving evidence, 43-year-old Kaye, who denies arson, admitted she had probably drunk more than three bottles of white wine on the evening of the fire, and had a habit of "binge drinking".

The heavy smoker also said she could not remember many of the events of the evening.

While questioned by Roger Harrison, defending, Kaye admitted she broke pub policy by drinking while working on the evening of the fire.

"I drank that evening in the kitchen. I've no idea why - I just felt like a drink," she said.

Kaye went on to describe how she finished the bottle of wine, downed three half-pint glasses of wine after finishing work, and then went to another town pub where she drank more wine.

She did not remember returning to The Seven Stars, and the next thing she recalled was seeing flames coming out of the ceiling.

"I remember being surrounded by people on the street," she said.

"I felt confused, shocked, guilty and responsible because it was my business. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"I feel sorry for all the inconvenience people have been put through, and feel I've lost everything.

"It is just not me, I don't damage things and I wouldn't put people's lives at risk - including my own."

In a statement read to the court, fire investigator Adrian Morris said the fire was likely to have started in the living room of the flat above the pub where Kaye lived with boyfriend and business partner John Moorcroft.

Earlier in the hearing, three police officers revealed how Kaye had told them she had started the fire.

Cross-examined by William Rickarby, prosecuting, Kaye said she could not remember making those comments, and denied starting the fire.

She admitted the last thing she generally did before going to bed was have a cigarette, and said she "would not have thought about the risks at the time".

The trial continues.