'Warm and bubbly' Angie Warren, 57, of Fair Oak, died after a seven-month battle with cancer

Angie Warren, 57, was diagnosed with lung cancer seven months ago but refused to be beaten by enjoying her life as normally as she was able to.

But Fair Oak resident Angie, a well-respected and popular field sales representative for the Daily Echo, passed away on Saturday.

Tributes have been led by family and friends.

Daughter Emma said: “She loved her job and she had a brilliant sense of humour, and everyone thought she was warm and personable because she was always up for a joke.

“She tried to carry on as normally as she could and she went out shopping, had meals and spent a lot of time with her friends.

“Her friends were absolutely brilliant when she was ill and she was never on her own – they took her to hospital appointments and never left her side.”

Angie, who married and divorced, was born in Luton but moved to Southampton with her parents at a young age.

She met friend Sue Hobbs through her work 15 years ago and the pair instantly bonded.

Sue said it was her personality that people warmed to.

She said: “It was her personality that stuck out because she was always happy and smiling, and she just had a really good sense of humour.

“It was a dry sense of humour and a bit of a mixture – you just get a connection with someone.

“When she was ill we stayed with her and all took turns sitting with her so she wasn’t alone, and she definitely appreciated it.”

It was her eye for a joke that set Angie apart.

, although Emma admits the joke was on her Emma said: “She thought unicorns were real and when someone explained that they weren’t real that she was completely shocked.

“She liked good food and she liked gardening and she was very bubbly, although she wasn’t keen on exercise.”

Angie’s funeral is open to the public and will be held at West End Crematorium on Bubb Lane at 10.45am on Saturday, July 18.

Family flowers only, and donations can be made to Cancer Research UK or the Countess Mountbatten Hospice.