TRIBUTES have flooded in for Gina Burrows, former mayor of Chipping Norton, who died last week.

Councillor Burrows, who was mayor between 2006 and 2008, including the time of the town’s Charter celebrations when she greeted Prince Charles, died at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford last Wednesday.

She had been battling neuro-endocrine and secondary liver cancer that had only been diagnosed a short while before.

Her son Stephen said: “Thankfully she did not suffer a painful death, but the speed at which she was taken was a shock to us, as it will be to all.”

Coun Burrows was a town councillor and actively involved in and supported many of the town’s organisations and institutions, including the Theatre, the Lido and St Mary’s Church and the Friends of the Town Hall.

She was chairman of the local Labour Party and unsuccessfully stood for election to West Oxfordshire District Council earlier this year.

Chipping Norton town councillor Jo Graves said: “She was a fantastic lady. She had her fingers in so many pies. She was a quiet, strong lady who just got on with things.” In an online tribute, current mayor Mike Dixon said: “Gina will be sorely missed on the town council where she has made an enormous contribution over many years.”

Canon Steven Weston of St Mary’s Church, described her as “a true servant of the town”.

Simon Duffy, headteacher at Chipping Norton School, where Coun Burrows was a governor for 15 years, said: “She was passionate about education; passionate about the well-being of young people and passionate about ensuring equality of opportunity. In short, she cared.”

Coun Burrows, aged 69, a former deputy headteacher, moved to Chipping Norton with her late husband Ron, who worked at the town’s theatre.

The couple had two children, Stephen and Cass, and a grandson Alex. Her funeral will take place at noon on Tuesday at St Mary’s Church.