A family has paid tribute to a "fun loving" and "amazing" mum-of-two who passed away after a short battle with stomach cancer.

Karen Bain died aged just 44 after she was diagnosed in August last year.

The NHS worker's mum Barbara Nuther said: "She was a fun-loving person. She had a good support system around her. She was a mum first but she did like to go out and party with her friends but her family came first.

"We were all close, we are a big family. She was always there when we had a get together.

"She was a happy, fun loving lady and she had lots of friends. She did want to fight the cancer but it got to her. It was so sad to see her deteriorate so quickly."

Karen, who lived in Warren Wood Road, Rochester, leaves behind son Rio, 18, and daughter Amelie, nine, who are now living with their dads.

Rio said his mum was "the best" who gave him and his sister everything she could and "the best times".

He added: "I will love her always and forever, she will never be forgotten. I am just lost for words."

Barbara who lives in Gillingham where Karen and her three siblings, Darren, Tracy and Sabrina, with dad Steve, grew up told of how her daughter was notoriously late to everything.

She said: "Most of her adult life, if we were going anywhere, she was always late. She made a habit of being late to anything – it could be half an hour or an hour. We were always waiting for her.

"For her 40th birthday she got three watches but it did not make any difference. It was part of her. We used to moan about her but we loved her for it."

Karen's brother Darren Bain also told of his "witty" sister who worked at Maidstone Hospital as an admin clerk.

He said: "Karen did rapidly decline. There is no one to blame, it is just unfortunate that is what happened. By the time she got diagnosed it was just too late.

"She was probably the funniest person I had met, she had a very dry, witty sense of humour. Just a brilliant sense of humour really.

"She was very kind to everyone, always happy to help anyone, she would do anything for anyone.

"It says a lot if you have a lot of people that want to come to your funeral. I hope when I die this many people come. It is sad. She was an amazing mum and always put her kids first.

"We had lots of good memories growing up. It is really hard to pin-point one specific story. We got up to a lot of mischief. Being the only boy with sisters it was always a bit of a mad house. They all nicked each other's clothes."

Family friends have now set up a fundraising page for Karen's children so they can enjoy quality time together, remember their mum fondly and make things a little bit easier for them after she passed away on January 12.

Their grandmother Barbara added: "Everything we get is going to them. We are hoping to take them away for a holiday this summer. She would have liked that. We have been talking about a big family holiday. She will be greatly missed when we go."

At the time of writing they had raised more than £2,800. You can donate here.