A woman faces jail after blowing up her flat in a botched suicide attempt.

Karen Queen, 35, left her gas cooker on and took prescription pills before going to bed on April 8 last year.

In the early hours of April 9, Miss Queen woke up, lit a cigarette, and caused a catastrophic explosion which destroyed an entire exterior wall of the second floor flat, on Morton Close, Roundshaw.

Queen, who has a history of depression, was alone in her flat, but five neighbours had to flee the burning building before firefighters arrived.

Jo Whittal, who lives next door with her three teenage children, said she feared for their lives when she realised what had happened.

She said: "The fireman told us that if the explosion had blown sideways rather than backwards, it would've have blown straight through my daughter's bedroom."

Just before the fire brigade arrived a baby was believed to be in the building, so one selfless neighbour ran upstairs, despite the flames, but could not find a child.

Moments after the explosion, a horrified neighbour answered their door to find a semi-naked and badly burned Queen on her doorstep.

Fire examiners told police that the explosion on the top floor of the three-storey block could have endangered anyone who may have been in the garden of the property at the time.

Miss Queen pleaded guilty to Arson when she appeared at Croydon Crown Court on Monday (June 18) following her arrest on August 4 last year.

At an appearance in January, the court heard how Miss Queen had made several suicide attempts and had been staying in a mental institution.

Miss Queen, who now lives in Croydon, was in a critical condition in hospital for several months following the blast, suffering from 60 per cent burns.

The blast caused £50,000 damage to the Roundshaw Homes property.

Queen was released on court bail and is due to be sentenced in July.