"Mrs Taylor is NOT being charged with murder," said Ognyan Simenov, the lawyer representing British pensioner Ethel Taylor.

Earlier, Bulgarian media reports said that Mrs Taylor, 60, had been charged with the murder of her husband Brian, after an argument following a night out at one of Veliko Turnovo's many bars. Mr Taylor's body was found on Hristov Botev Street near Veliko Turnovo's South bus station by taxi drivers in the early hours of October 10.

Mrs Taylor's version of events is that her husband and she had been celebrating at a bar in the heart of the town until about midnight. Mr Taylor having had too much to drink, it was decided that his wife Ethel would drive them both home. The two had an argument en route to their house, which they bought three years ago, in the village of Belomagita. The argument ended with Mr Taylor leaving the car near the bus station and Mrs Taylor driving herself home. When her husband, Brian, did not return home, Mrs Taylor reported him missing, unaware that the police had an as yet unidentified body on their hands which turned out to be the missing Brian Taylor. It was apparent to the police that Mr Taylor had died after being run over by a car. Bulgarian media reports suggested that the police were persuaed by forensic evidence that the car involved was the Taylor family SUV, driven by Ethel. The reports alleged that she was to be charged with murdering her husband.

"Not so," said lawyer Simenov. He said that Mrs Taylor was being charged under the transport and communications crimes section of the Penal Code, which in layperson's terms equates to a charge of hit and run.

"There is no suggestion of murder," Simenov said with an exasperated sigh, "this is just sensationalism by the press".

Asked about supposed forensic evidence linking the Taylor's SUV to the dead body, he said: "The forensic evidence as reported is a myth, what little forensic evidence which does exist {a tyre tread mark on Mr Taylor's T-shirt} is weak and inconclusive. Not only is my client not being charged with murder, but I strongly believe that the police do not have enough hard evidence for my client to be convicted under the transport and communications crimes law. The police have up to four months to present their case to the prosecutor, at which stage it will be decided what level of prosecution, if any, should take place".

According to the couples' neighbours in the quiet village of Belomagita, the Taylors had lived there peacefully for three years since leaving their native Scunthorpe in the UK. Mrs Taylor is now back at her home in the village but was unavailable for comment.