The husband of former MP and town and county councillor Candy Atherton has paid tribute to his wife and revealed she died after suffering a massive stroke.

Brod Ross, himself a town councillor, was at his wife's hospital bedside when she died last Monday evening at the age of 62, and admits medical professionals had not expected her to live as long as she did.

"That day was always expected because of Candy's medical condition," he said. "She lived four years beyond her statistical life span, with the conditions she had she should have died at about 58 to 59."

Those conditions included psoriatic arthropathy, spondylitis, a weakened heart due to atrial defibrillation and high blood pressure, but Candy never let them stand in her way.

"She would work herself into the floor," said Brod. "What people didn't see after she came back from doing council stuff, was that she would spent the day in bed afterwards. She would come in and be incapable of doing very much - she would just plonk herself in front of her computer and work on emails."

Candy and Brod had accompanied town clerk Mark Williams to the NALC (National Association of Local Councils) conference in Milton Keynes where he was named Clerk of the Year. Keen to make the most of their time away, the couple had been Christmas shopping last Monday morning, but Candy was taken ill only hours later.

"We'd had a good day and she was booked by the BBC to do a radio interview so we were back at the hotel and she took the call at 6pm prompt," said Brod. "By five past six she sounded slightly distressed and by ten past she put the phone down and said 'I'm feeling wobbly' which was not unusual because of her diabetes. A little after that she said he felt really unwell and asked me to call 999 for an ambulance."

She was taken to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital where a crash team was waiting for her. She was then taken for a CT scan and it was after this that Brod was given the devastating news. "After about 40 minutes a nurse came back and said Candy would not make it through the night - she'd had a bi-cranial bleed, a massive stroke. I was left with Candy just waiting for her to die - there was nothing that could be done.

"Her brain had died in the ambulance, but Candy had a pacemaker and it was that that kept her going fora further two hours. Whereas Candy had died at 8pm, her body didn't die until 9.55pm."

Almost immediately, Brod went through Candy's phone and started telling people of the news. Within 20 minutes he had received a call from Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who had been a friend of Candy's for more than 20 years. Tributes were also later paid by former Prime Minister Tony Blair and current Prime Minister Theresa May.

Candy and Brod had first met in 1995 at a pub quiz at the Princess Pavilion where Candy was with Jude Robinson, who is reported as saying of the couple: "they met and they were smitten." Brod admits: "It was also lust at first sight."

The pair went on their first date only days later and the rest is history. Brod was by her side when Candy saw off competition from former Olympian Seb Coe to become MP for Falmouth and Camborne in 1997, which was one of her proudest achievements.

They married at Pendennis Castle in 2002. "We were politically compatible although we were different in absolutely all other ways," said Brod. "Whereas Candy was big and loud, I'm much more the quiet guy. She was great fun, but also ruddy demanding and she drove me crackers on a regular basis."

Brod also revealed some little known facts about Candy, including that she was a qualified glider pilot, an accomplished "boat woman," accordion and keyboard player, keen birdwatcher and possibly most surprising was Godmother to 80s' pop star Kim Wilde. This came about through her father Denis' friendship with Kim's father Marty Wilde.

Brod now hopes to be selected to run for Candy's Cornwall Council seat in Smithick, once the by-election has been called.

Meanwhile, Falmouth Town Council has opened a book of condolence for anyone who would like to leave a tribute. It can be found at the information service in the Old PO Building on The Moor.

It is not yet known when Candy's funeral service will be held, but it is expected it will take place at Penmount Crematorium in Truro, towards the end of the month.