ABOUT 70 friends, family and colleagues paid their last respects to town councillor Penny McDougall at her funeral service at St Helen’s Church in Abingdon yesterday.

Her two sons, Kyle, 27, and Ross, 25, helped the pallbearers take the coffin into the church at shortly after 1pm.

Her sister Lynne Dance, 65, daughter-in-law Nikki McDougall, 28, and grandson Kye also attended, with fellow town councillors.

The service was presided over by the Reverend John Coombs.

Leader of the town council Sandy Lovatt said: “Penny was a lovely person, and great fun to talk to.

“She played her part as a town councillor, she was dedicated to the town and paid attention to her constituents.”

Ms McDougall died unexpectedly at the age of 58 earlier this month.

She served on the town council since May 2011, but stepped down at the end of March. It was thought she planned to move to a house in Didcot which she had been renovating with her son, Ross.

Her family said she became ill on Saturday, April 6, and thought she might have food poisoning.

The next day she was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital where she suffered a cardiac arrest. The exact cause of her death is still unknown.