AS a member of Girls Aloud, the most successful British girl group of the past generation, Nicola Roberts notched up 20 top 10 singles and three million albums sales. She’s travelled around the world, but she still says there’s nowhere she would rather be than in Liverpool.

“I’m such a geek about Liverpool,” laughs Nicola, 25, originally from Runcorn. “I miss it so much. If I hear a Scouse accent when I’m in London I’m over there like a shot. I was in a petrol station the other day and a heard a Scouse accent.

“I ran over to the woman but I didn’t know what to say. I picked something up off the floor and I was like ‘have you dropped this?’ just so I could hear the accent.

“I met my friend’s new boyfriend the other day and he’s got this dead Scouse voice, really strong, and we just chatted about Liverpool all night.

“I’ve always been like that. I need that bit of home. It grounds me.”

Now, three years after the release of Girls Aloud’s last album, Nicola is going it alone with a solo record, due out next month.

“I’m so excited,” she admits. “But I’m really nervous too. I’ve written the songs myself. I spent a year locked away in the studio every day. It’s quite autobiographical, very personal, so it’s scary to put it out there.”

For her first single, Beat Of My Drum, Nicola worked with Goldfrapp producer Dimitri Tikovoi and MIA producer Diplo.

“It’s a fun record,” says Nicola. “It was important my first single was different to anything else around. I love that it’s a song everyone can sing and dance along to.

“I’m proud of the music that I’ve made. I had so much more control than I’ve ever had in the band.”