PEOPLE living in a Worcester block of flats were left in fear for their lives when a woman set fire to her flat in a suicide bid, a court heard.

Mother-of-three Sandra O'Brien-Jones went back to her ground floor flat in Chedworth Drive, Warndon, after a night out drinking, Worcester Crown Court heard.

She tried to light a cigarette from a naked flame on the cooker using paper from children's books and when it started to burn, she put more paper on it, Michael Conry, prosecuting, told the court.

At around 3am, on April 30 this year, when she called a neighbour, Kelly Rawlings and said, "my kitchen's on fire.," Mr Conry said. Mrs Rawlings ran across to the flat and saw there was smoke inside.

She got O'Brien-Jones outside but she went back in and shut herself in the kitchen where the fire had started. Mrs Rawlings shouted through the window for her to leave and eventually got her out.

"The smell of smoke was very strong. She was struggling to breathe,"

Mr Conry said. "It could have been a lot worse."

The fire was in the middle of a terraced block of flats with young children asleep in their beds in nearby homes, Recorder Sandra Bristoll said.

One of the neighbours had liquid oxygen in their flat for medical easing and if the fire had spread, it could have had "catastrophic consequences," she said.

The upstairs neighbour went out of his flat to find the stairwell thick with smoke, the court heard, and neighbours had told police of their fear at what happened that night.

O'Brien-Jones pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.

Jason Patel, defending, said a psychiatric report showed the 34-year-old had mental health issues and a problem with alcohol.

"This was a suicide attempt in a drunken state," he said.

Neighbour Mrs Rawlings had acted very well, he said, and the damage was confined to the hob and worktop with repairs costing £600.

Mr Patel said O'Brien-Jones had been tackling her alcohol use while in custody since her arrest. She had one adult child and her two young children, who had been staying with Mrs Rawlings on the night of the fire, were now living with their father, he told the court.

Recorder Bristoll said O'Brien-Jones had put herself and the neighbours and the firefighters at risk and had been ashamed at her actions..

"She knew she could have killed someone," Recorder Bristoll said.

The blaze had not been started with any malice to the neighbours and taking into account the mental health issues, she said she had decided to suspend a prison sentence of two years for two years.

O'Brien-Jones was also ordered to undertake an alcohol treatment requirement and fifteen days of a rehabilitation programme with 180 hours of unpaid work in twelve months.