Conservative stalwart Phyllis Allwright has died from pneumonia aged 96 after many years of service.

A widow, she moved to Hove from London after working for the John Lewis Partnership.

During the Second World War she was hostess at a club for American troops.

She became chairman and President of Hove Conservatives and was also secretary of the Hove Supper Club.

Mrs Allwright, of Hogarth Road, Hove, became an MBE for political services.

Former Hove Tory agent Colonel Gerry Exley said: "She was very devoted and the Conservative Party was her life."

Ex-Mayor Jim Buttimer said: "She was the last of the generation of old Conservatives."

His wife, Audrey, also a former Mayor of Hove, said Mrs Allwright had remained active up to the end, recently hosting a coffee morning at her home.