TRIBUTES have been paid to a former nurse who died after colliding with a car on her way to the supermarket.

Ewan Scott says his grandmother, Nancy Cassell, of Porchester Mead, Beckenham, lived a very full life and loved nothing more than visiting London to look round museums and go to the theatre.

The 26-year-old said: "We are all devastated. Such a tragic loss, so suddenly.

"She had so many friends both from life as a nurse at Sydenham children's hospital and from the area she lived in.

"She worked at the hospital for 40 years, so there are loads of people whose lives would have been touched in that way.

"She was a very loving mother and grandmother."

Born in Derbyshire, Mrs Cassell trained to be a nurse in her late teens before moving to London in the early 50s and worked in Guy's Hospital before taking up a post in Sydenham.

She settled in Beckenham and had a daughter Hilary, who is now 55 and has two children, Ewan and 20-year-old Matthew.

Mr Scott, who lives in north London, said: "She was a great lover of art and the theatre. Right up until the day she died she was going up to London. She was very independent.

"She used to walk to the station and get on the train."

The 80-year-old died after colliding with a car in Southend Road, Beckenham, near the junction with Brackley Road, on May 31.

Police were called to the scene at 8.43am.

After the collision the car, a silver Mercedes 220, went through a fence and down a grass embankment.

An ambulance attended but Mrs Cassell was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision. Call 020 8285 1574.

  • A 23-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and is currently on police bail.