A FORMER councillor and mayor who has died has been remembered for her “desire to improve the city”.

Ann Norman, who represented Westdene as a councillor for 23 years, died at a care facility on Friday following a short stay in hospital.

She was 83.

Ann represented Westdene from 1996 to 2019, first on Brighton and Hove Borough Council and then on Brighton and Hove City Council.

She was the mayor of Brighton and Hove between 2009 and 2010 and also an active trustee at the Martlets hospice in Hove for nine years before retiring in 2019.

Juliet Smith, chairwoman of trustees at Martlets, said Ann was a “committed trustee and worked collaboratively to ensure good governance of our charity”.

“Her insight, connections and desire to improve the city were of great benefit in helping Martlets achieve our mission of providing life-changing hospice care to the community of Brighton and Hove,” she said.

“Ann will be greatly missed by the colleagues who worked closely with her during her time on our board of trustees. On behalf of Martlets, I extend our gratitude for such devoted commitment. Our prayers and thoughts are very much with her family and friends.”

Born in 1938, Ann went on to have a long career at the University of Sussex. From 1966 to 1991, she worked in the teaching laboratory area of the School of Mathematics and Physics. It was there she met her husband Ken Norman.

The couple, who did not have children, served as councillors together for many years -   Ken represented the same ward as Ann between 2002 and 2019.

He paid tribute to her, saying she would be “sorely missed for her whole attitude to life and her residents”.

“She loved this area so much having moved into Westdene in the 1960s and never looked back,” he said.

“She was a real example of a councillor and a resident in the city. She was always polite and tried to help anybody do anything. She was so kind to everybody – she never turned anybody away.

“I’ve been touched by calls from many former colleagues and councillors who have said she was hard working and conscientious councillor.”

No funeral date has yet been set.