CELEBRITY chef Gordon Ramsay has been blamed for ruining the life of one of the victims of his "Kitchen Nightmares" series.

Susan Ray's latest tale of woe surfaced in Skipton Magistrates' Court where she was convicted of drink driving.

Her Silsden restaurant, Bonaparte's, was the first to be featured in the reality show in which Mr Ramsay offered "advice".

She invited the cameras in but claimed the celebrity chef's scathing criticism led to the venture's rapid decline, her bankruptcy and now her appeareance in court.

Her solicitor told the court that she had been "hoodwinked" by the television company and that far from boosting her restaurant, the television show had effectively closed it.

After the proceedings Miss Ray told the Craven Herald: "I feel as though nothing worse can happen. I don't know if there is anything more to lose."

She admitted driving a pick-up truck on Keighley Road at Cross Hills when she was one-and-a-half times over the limit.

Prosecutor Michael Hammond told the court she was "driving in a strange manner" at midnight on February 25.

Ray pleaded guilty on March 3 and magistrates imposed an interim driving ban. This week she was disqualified for 12 months, fined £50 and ordered to pay £50 costs.

Her solicitor, John Mewies, told the magistrates: "She has a number of problems all of which can be related to the downfall of her business in Silsden.

"She had a potentially thriving business as a restaurateur and bar owner but she was hoodwinked by a TV production company.

"The programme painted a totally unrealistic and distorted picture of her business and the result was utter chaos and total financial disaster. All her work went down the pan."

Mr Mewies said that Ray was declared bankrupt in December.

"She attributed her financial ruin to the transmission of that programme," he added.

He said Ray was homeless and unemployed. She was suffering from a stress-related illness and was dependant on the goodwill of family and friends. She was on Jobseeker's Allowance and paying back a £60 emergency loan.

"She is resourceful and she will be self-sufficient again," Mr Mewies said.

Speaking to the Herald outside the court, Miss Ray said she was determined to bounce back from an ordeal that began on April 22 2004 with the screening of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

In under a week the restaurant had lost £2,000 and total debts spiralled to £400,000.

Miss Ray, who lived above the business in Kirkgate, told the Herald that many people still recognised her.

"People come up and say things like 'Why don't you start a caf called the The Spitting Scallop'? I wish I could, I haven't the money."

She still believes she was taken in by the TV company. "I just wish I hadn't believed what I'd been told about the film helping me to become a profitable eatery. It was a free appraisal from a top chef, who would say no?"

Ray is planning a book about her restaurant's downfall and thinking of performing a black comedy sketch.

"They say revenge is sweet if it is served up cold. It was hurtful at the time but I have a sense of humour and I will try to turn the negative into a positive."

Ray, who ran a successful travel agency in Cross Hills, may start a business in sailing holidays and/or villa exhanges.

And time is mitigating her hurt and anger. "I made a complete error of judgement that I am still paying for," she said."But it made good TV - I watched it myself."