A staunch supporter of the Whitstable Carnival has died after suffering complications following a routine operation.

Margaret Johnson, 68, died at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital last week after surgery on her foot.

She was born in Glasgow but first moved to Whitstable with her husband David in 1978.

She died on Wednesday, August 19, with her family around her.

Her daughter Janette said: "Mum loved Whitstable and she loved the carnival and it was the natural place for her to return when my dad died.

"She threw herself into the community, and was a member of the Lindley Players, attending their play-reading group on Tuesdays and selling sweets in Playhouse Theatre during productions.

"She was passionate about the carnival and entered me from a very young age and it was one of the reasons she moved back to the town."

Margaret and David joined the carnival committee and were regular entrants as well as helping with the organisation.

David's work took them away from the town but after his death from cancer in 1997, Margaret returned and continued to support the carnival in a variety of roles, including assistant secretary.

Janette and grandson James shared her enthusiasm and also regularly took part in the annual parade, most recently when James, nine, converted his scooter into a Spitfire aeroplane for this year’s event.

"It is a comfort to me that she was spared a long illness or slowly losing her independence through old age as she would have hated that..." - Margaret Johnson's daughter, Janette

Before Janette was born, she worked as a civil servant and ran a Cubs group and she was also a keen horserider when she was younger.

Janette said: "She liked to be busy and definitely did not like to stay in. She loved being a grandma to James and had a real sense of fun and adventure.

"She loved fairground rides and said she didn’t want to ask the doctors if she would still be able to go on them after her operation in case they suggested a 68-year-old woman shouldn’t be on them in the first place.

"Mum would do anything for anyone and kept her friends entertained with her many ‘Margaretisms’ – comments that were meant entirely innocently but ended up being wickedly funny.

"It is a comfort to me that she was spared a long illness or slowly losing her independence through old age as she would have hated that."

Janette paid tribute to her friends and family for the support she had received since her mum’s death, and also thanked the League of Friends of the Kent & Canterbury Hospital for providing the Joan Bourner Diamond Jubilee Suite which was used by the family during Margaret's time in intensive care.

She added: "People have been fantastic and I have been overwhelmed by the support from my friends and family.

"Everyone has rallied round to help James and me and it has meant a lot to both of us."

A service of thanksgiving for Margaret will take place on Friday, September 25, at 2.30pm at St Alphege Church, Whitstable.

It will be led by the Rev David Vannerly and follows a private family cremation.

Friends are then welcome at the Plough in Swalecliffe from 3.30pm.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made for either the League of Friends of Kent & Canterbury Hospital or Cancer Research UK via C W Lyons funeral directors in Oxford Street, Whitstable. For more information call 01227 272375.