TRIBUTES have been paid to former councillor and Droitwich mayor Eileen Hope who has passed away this week at the age of 78.

Mrs Hope, who served as town mayor twice in 1982 and 1987, also served as chairman of Wychavon District council twice, in 1990/91 and again in 1999/2000, one of only two people to do so.

She led the Millennium Civic Service in Pershore Abbey in 2000, and at both councils, she was very interested and involved in both community and amenities, and environmental health issues.

Paying tribute to her, Councillor Richard Morris, said: “She was mostly important to me because she was one of the main people who talked me into politics. She sat next to me at one event and talked me into standing as a councillor, and then when I went from being a town councillor to being a district councillor and she stood down, she did whatever she could to see that I got her seat. She paved the way for me, so I owe her an enormous amount.

“She dressed to impress. You noticed Eileen, she stood out in a crowd. She would walk her ward every day, so she noticed when houses went up for sale, and she would greet new people moving in.

“She was great, she was engaging. You lit up when you were with Eileen, she was a shining light, you would immediately get enraptured. She was always quite headstrong, and she knew what she wanted, but she always managed to do it in a personable way. She was good at recognising the importance of people in a community, and she was a good friend.”

Councillor Tom Noyes was introduced to Mrs Hope by his wife Glenise when she both served on Droitwich Town Council together.

He added: “Eileen was a tremendous resource to the town and represented the interests of the townspeople. Always readily available at the town’s library where she worked, distinctive with her haircuts and the way she dressed, always helpful, always immaculately turned out. Always was the right word for her, always happy, always well informed and will always be missed.

“She was just bright and cheerful, and she was well liked, well loved. If you wanted an opinion, you wanted the job done, go and see Eileen.”

Eileen was one of the founder members of the Droitwich Twinning Association, travelling to Bad Ems to help set up the links between the two towns in the early 1980s.

Dennis Beasley, another of the founder members, said: "There was a steering committee formed and Eileen was mayor at the time. It was a smaller spa town, an attractive town we were brought together through the British Council. She was one of the driving forces behind it and she was one of the four of us who went over to Bad Ems. She was very enthusiastic and very dynamic about the whole thing, right the way through."

Eileen made visits to Bad Ems from 1982 every two years until 2010, regularly hosting families from the town in Droitwich.

Mr Beasley added; "She was one of the guiding lights and one of the driving forces behind the whole thing."

A spokesman for Droitwich Town Council said: “Our thoughts are with her husband Graham, daughter Debbie and son-in-law Frank at this sad time.”

Although she had moved to Scotland recently to be near her daughter, Mrs Hope’s funeral will be taking place at Worcester Crematorium on Monday, October 12 at 12.15pm. There is no information as yet as to flowers or donations.