A COUNCILLOR who “stood up for her constituents and what she believed in” has died at the age of 66.

Raymonde Collins, who had been a Conservative councillor for the Meopham South and Vigo ward of Gravesham since May 1991, passed away at around 8.30am on Sunday.

She had been fighting pancreatic cancer for almost two years, continuing with her council duties, but declined rapidly over the past two weeks and was taken into Ellenor Lions Hospice in Northfleet.

She had lived in Carters Hill Lane in Meopham for 25 years and leaves behind her husband 70-year-old Clive, six children, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Her son Anthony, 48, said: “We all went to see her at the hospice on Friday to say goodbye while she was still conscious, and my father and I were at her bedside when she passed away on Sunday morning.

“She will be greatly missed by everybody. Those who knew her never forgot her. She always stood up for her constituents and what she believed in.”

Cllr Collins fought a number of campaigns on behalf of her constituents, including convincing Kent County Council to introduce safety measures on Wrotham Road in Meopham in 2006.

This was after a number of car accidents had taken place, including a gritter lorry tipping onto its side and crashing through a garden, writing off a car, in February 2006.

Gravesham Council leader Councillor Mike Snelling, who has known Cllr Collins for 20 years, praised her fighting spirit and work for the people of Gravesham.

He said: “She will be remembered by me for the immense courage she showed in fighting the illness which finally took her life. Not once did I hear her complain.

“Her greatest achievement as a councillor was the recognition by all the residents she represented that she was devoted to bettering their lives and resolving their problems, rather than having any political agenda.”