Lord Bassam of Brighton said: "Anita was just brilliant. She was a fantastic person.

"Her influence as a social entrepreneur was incredible. She was a creative, thoughtful, wise and innovative person.

"Her effect on Brighton was profound. The Body Shop was Brighton's baby as well as her baby. It became the zeitgeist of the city and did a great deal to change the way corporations worked.

"The world will be a much poorer place without her."

Broadcaster Simon Fanshawe said: "The fact is Brighton has lost a friend not just me.

"She was really committed and terribly enthusiastic about to the city. Just days ago we were talking about what she could do to help and support Brighton Fringe.

"What was so extraordinary about Anita was the way she provided such an unsentimental commitment. The way she asked questions was almost forensic so she could work out the particular way she could really help.

"She would do the same whether she was dealing with a Brazil nut cream or the Fringe - she just knew what to do to make things happen.

"She had a brilliantly clever mind and -most memorably - fabulous shoes."

Nick Gibb, the MP for Dame Anita's hometown of Littlehampton, said: "She was a wonderful supporter of the local community in Littlehampton, contributing to many local organisations including Littlehampton Community School.

"She was an enterprising and innovative person who provided prosperity for the town and jobs for many hundreds of people in this area.

"The whole of Littlehampton will miss her."

Henry Smith, the leader of West Sussex County Council, went to school with Dame Anita's daughters.

He said: "She was an entrepreneur who put West Sussex business on the map. It is such a great loss and shock."

MP Nick Herbert, whose constituency Dame Anita lived in, said: "She inspired many others and showed great leadership in her work."

John Sauven, the executive director of Greenpeace, said Dame Anita was an "incredible woman" who would be "sorely missed".

Emma Colyer, the director of HIV and Aids charity Body & Soul, of which Dame Anita was a patron, said: "She was simply inspirational. She had a passion for wanting to change society, and change it for the better."

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "Anita was a leading light of the modern green movement, and was one the first people to combine a profitable business with environmental responsibility."

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