A COUNTRY pub will close today as staff travel to the funeral of its landlady who died following a freak accident on a night out.

Sian Thomas died days after falling over in her high heels during a night out to celebrate a friend’s leaving do. The 38-year-old joked about the mishap on Facebook, saying she had suffered a bruised knee. However, she died the next day from a blood clot.

Miss Thomas, who ran the Berkeley Arms in Spetchley, will be buried today in her home town ofPembrey, south Wales.

She had lived and worked at the pub for almost three years.

She is survived by her mother Alice, sisters Janice and Julie, and brother Alan.

Speaking to the South Wales Evening Post, her sister Janice said: “She was a wonderful person. She was always smiling, so caring and a fab friend. It's killing us.”

Her mum added: “She was a very quiet little girl, but always very smiley and happy in school.

“For all her life she brought happiness with her smile, and never forgot her family and friends in Wales.”

Miss Thomas wanted to work in catering from a young age and studied at Carmarthenshire College before beginning her career at the Imperial Hotel in Tenby.

Although she moved to Worcester, her sister said she was always in touch with her family and kept many friends in Pembrey.

Janice said: “We saw her regularly and she was always on the phone. She came home a lot and she was due to come to Beach Break with my daughters this weekend.

“She was well loved in Pembrey, and everybody is just devastated.”

Janice said her sister will be remembered as caring and loving, and described how she delivered food to pensioners during the winter’s heavy snow.

“She did a lot of work for charities that we didn’t know about – for the Red Cross and cancer charities – and she would open the pub to anyone who was stranded.”

Spirit Hospitality, which owns the Berkeley Arms, confirmed that it would be closing the pub today as a mark of respect to Miss Thomas.

The company has arranged for transport for about 30 members of staff and those accompanying them to the service.

Staff from St Catherine’s Holdings, the parent company of Spirit Hospitality, will be providing cover at The Angel Inn Hotel in Pershore, to allow staff to also attend her funeral.

• Please leave your tributes to Sian below.