TRIBUTES have been paid to former Christchurch councillor Susan Darch who died on the eve of the by-election to fill the Portfield ward seat left vacant by her resignation just a few weeks earlier.

Mrs Darch had successfully battled against cancer 12 years before she was first elected to the council in May 2003.

But the disease returned and she was forced to resign from the council in April because of her failing health.

She was admitted to a private hospital at Poole where she died on Wednesday May 4.

The funeral service for Mrs Darch, who is survived by husband Terry and son Peter, will be held at Bournemouth crematorium on Thursday May 12 and will be attended by mayor Cllr Sue Spittle.

Fellow Portfield ward member Cllr Lillian Jefferis, who was elected at the same time as Mrs Darch, said: "She was a most wonderful person. She had a wonderful brain and could recall the minutest detail.

"Throughout the time that I worked with her she was always extremely kind to me. She was extremely keen on being a councillor and was always running around doing things for other people.

"She did a lot for Christchurch and but for her illness could have done a lot more."

Like Cllr Mrs Jefferis, Mrs Darch was elected as a Liberal Democrat but barely 18 months later crossed the floor of the council chamber to join the ranks of the majority Conservative group, both saying they were "disappointed and disillusioned" by a lack of support from their party colleagues.

In last Thursday's by-election the vacant Portfield ward seat was reclaimed for the Liberal Democrats by David Vick.

It was one of three successes for his party, which gained the Jumpers ward seat left by the resignation of former mayor and long-serving independent councillor Bob McArthur and held the Purewell and Stanpit ward seat of former councillor Wendy Lloyd, who also died of cancer earlier this year.

Despite the addition of Mr Vick, Jason Viney (Jumpers) and Alan Wright at Purewell to the opposition ranks, Conservatives still hold the majority with 15 of the 24 seats on the council.

First published: May 10