TRIBUTES were paid by Salvation Army members in Bicester at the funeral of charity worker Hazel Allan.

Mrs Allan, who lived in the town, passed away aged 82, on Saturday, January 31, after a period of illness.

The volunteer was a well-known figure in the Salvation Army having worked with the charity since the late 1970s.

Captain Kat McLean said: “Hazel was well-known at the town’s pubs and clubs where she sold our newspaper Warcry on Friday evenings.

“Everyone loved Hazel and she loved everybody, she made the church feel like a family.”

Mrs Allan was involved in “everything and anything” to support the charity and was instrumental in raising funds to build the Salvation Army Hall in Hart Place, where she laid the first brick.

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A friend, Paul Addison said: “To me she was like a patron saint of the hopeless, she was the nicest woman you could ever meet, I saw her as another Nan.

“She could never do enough to help people, whether financially or physically, she would always put herself out to help."