A holiday of a lifetime ended in tragedy following the sudden death of an Egremont woman.

Brenda Clarke, of Castle Croft, was on an action-packed trip with her son and friends Sue Bailey and her son Scott.

They scaled the Empire State Building and visited Central Park.

But, family and friends were devastated when Brenda, 63, died suddenly in her hotel room.

A post mortem revealed she had previously undetected heart disease.

Brenda's husband Alan and friend Sue have paid emotional tributes to her.

Alan described his wife as " a fun loving person" who "lived for her family".

And Sue said: "Alan has lost a soul mate and the mother of his children and I have lost a friend that I loved. "If you had a friend in Brenda, you had a friend for life."

She said Brenda was "a very traditional person; she had good morals and good values".

Brenda was mum to Alan, 42, Anita, 40, and Nicola, 39. She was also grandmother to Ashley, 22, Owen, 21, and Harrison, eight.

She was close to her sister Barbara, and she looked forward to seeing her nieces, great nieces and nephews, says Alan.

Friend Sue said each year she and Brenda and their two sons would holiday in Blackpool. This year they decided to go to New York.

"Brenda was in absolute awe of it," said Sue. "She was having the time of her life. It was quite an adventure for us. She had conquered her fear of heights by going up the Empire Stare building."

On the third day into their five-day trip, they enjoyed a horse and cart ride in Central Park, and were set to see a show that evening.

Sue said Brenda went for a rest in her room because she felt unwell. They were devastated to find, only a short time later, she'd died. Following Brenda's death, hotel staff, emergency services, Craig Travel and United Airlines rallied round to help Sue and the family.

A funeral was held at St Mary and St Michael's Church in Egremont, attended by around 250 people. Donations were given in Brenda's memory to the British Heart Foundation.

Alan says his wife was well-known in Egremont. She used to work in Egremont's shoe factory, followed by Kangol hat factory. She also worked in Old Hall Nightclub in Egremont. She also had a stint as a cleaner at BNFL before working in the postal service at Sellafield until her retirement.

Alan said the family holidayed locally when their children were younger. Recently the couple spent time at their caravan in Allonby. Alan says Brenda enjoyed walking and being out in the countryside and holidaying with friends, Liz and Joe.

He said following Brenda's death, the family has been inundated with support.