Hot Chocolate was Gloria Preece’s favourite band and the music her family chose to play at her funeral on Monday.

The 72-year-old of Westwood Road, Rudloe, lived in the area all her life and often popped into Corsham for a cup of tea, where she would always bump into someone she knew.

It was at the café in the High Street where she met her partner Desmond Cousins, 57, after she asked him if he could give her sister, Fay, a lift to the airport. From there romance blossomed and they spent 14 years together.

Ms Preece had already been married and had seven children, John, Janet and Angela; Gina, Claire and Shaun, who were subsequently adopted, and a daughter, Jenny, who died of cancer at the age of three.

She also had six grandchildren.

She was born in Fordingbridge in Hampshire and later went to school in Corsham.

In her early years she worked at the Harris’ bacon factory in Calne.

She then went on to clean cars for a taxi company and her last job before she retired was working in a canteen. She was also had a good relationship with her sister Fay who lives in Australia. Ms Preece would go and stay with her sometimes for up to a month at a time so she could take in all the sights. They also had a brother, Mervyn.

In their spare time Ms Preece and Mr Cousins would spend hours completing jigsaw puzzles.

Ms Preece was also a keen cook and once cooked 900 mince pies in a year.

Mr Cousins said: “She was a little bit shy.

“In her later years she would call it as it was and wouldn’t hold back from saying what she wanted. She was always jolly and had a lovely smile.”

Ms Preece died on Saturday, September 13, at the Royal United Hospital in Bath after contracting bowel cancer. Mr Cousins was by was her side.

Her coffin travelled through Corsham High Street carried by a traditional hand-drawn bier to St Bartholomew’s Church.