Tributes have been paid to an “honest and caring” mother and grandmother following her death.

Sue Avery, 53, was described as a “devoted mother” who doted on her children and grandchildren even throughout her short battle with bowel cancer.

Sue, from Saltdean, who also suffered from Crohn's disease, spent over a decade caring for her severely autistic son. She has been hailed by her children as an inspiration who looked after her family without complaint.

Nigel Avery-Thew, Sue’s eldest son, said: “She worked very hard to bring my brother up, but she always did it with a smile on her face.

“My mum was quite a character, she was an honest and caring person and she loved as all incredibly.

“My brother is non-verbal so he has been taking this quite hard, but we have all been supportive of each other and all pulled together.”

The Argus: Nigel Avery-ThewNigel Avery-Thew (Image: Nigel Avery-Thew)

Nigel, 31, said his mother had been a full-time carer for her youngest son Zac, 15, ever since he was born.

He said “the last six months have been quite difficult” since his mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer, but he had found the support of his younger siblings "incredibly helpful".

Sue, who was a single mother, is survived by Nigel, Zac and her other three children, Josh, 30, Zara, 31, and Tia, 18. She also had six grandchildren.

Since she died on Friday, October 7, Nigel and his siblings have begun the process of gaining guardianship of their younger brother, as well as organising her funeral. He said the funeral would be “a celebration of her life”.

Sue had not saved up much money and Nigel said that the estimate for funeral costs was around £4,000. The family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs and any money raised over that amount will go to hospice charity Martlets, where Sue spent her last few weeks.

Anyone wishing to donate to the funeral costs can do so at https://gf.me/v/c/hmy3/the-celebration-of-sue-avery.