A woman developed kidney failure after she was sold Chinese herbal medicine to treat a skin disorder, a court heard.

Catering manager Sandra Stay, 59, turned to Chinese medicine in 1998 after traditional treatment failed to cure her psoriasis.

But she began to suffer from blinding headaches and vomiting after taking drugs allegedly prescribed for her by the Guo Yao Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Centre in St James's Street, Brighton.

Peter Gower, prosecuting, told a jury at Hove Crown Court the pills she was given had allegedly contained a banned substance.

The defendant, 37-year-old Zie Zheng, had sold Mrs Stay products containing the poisonous substance at her clinic, he said.

He said they contained aristolochic acid, a plant extract which, even in small amounts, had been shown to cause kidney damage.

The substance was first banned by the Medicines Control Agency under emergency measures in July 1999.

Mrs Stay said her daughter had introduced her to Zheng at the clinic in October 1998, when she was taken into a backroom and examined by an elderly lady described as a doctor.

"She took my pulse and looked at my tongue. I was told my hot and cold were out of balance.

"I was prescribed some tablets and some cream and told not to have any fish or mushrooms at the same time," she added.

Ms Stay said her doses varied depending on her skin discomfort but she regularly took 15 brown tablets in the morning and another 15 at night, as well as swallowing two white pills a day and applying a cream.

She said she visited the centre "every six weeks or two months" for more supplies of the drugs, which cost about £7 for each bottle of pills.

Mrs Stay visited the clinic regularly over three years to buy pills until February 2001.

She told the court she remembered the exact day she became ill from the aristolochia poisoning.

She said: "It was December 17, 2000. I was working at Lingfield racecourse as a catering supervisor.

"I went on to another job at Hickstead showground.

"I did not feel well at work and when I woke up next morning I thought I had overdone it. I could hardly move my head off the pillow, had a violent headache and was violently sick. I thought it was the menopause."

She said the problems continued until March 2001, when she was persuaded by her daughter to see a doctor.

She was referred to a migraine specialist but blood tests later showed she was suffering from severe kidney failure.

Mr Gower said experts concluded the cause was substances contained in Chinese herbal medicines.

Zie Zheng, 37, originally from Hong Kong, who lives in St James's Street, Brighton, denies four charges of selling a medicinal product containing a prohibited substance between October, 1999 and February, 2001, charges brought by the Department of Health.

The trial continues.