An animal welfare charity is to gain a share of a £1.6 million estate left by a pensioner after she died.

Betty Rees bequeathed her fortune to three pet rescue centres, including one in East Sussex and an Egypt-based equine hospital.

Mrs Rees from Shirley, West Midlands, died in October 2001, aged 72, a few months after her husband Bill passed away.

She had dedicated her life to running her own charity for neutering cats and gave financial support to people who struggled to look after their pets.

A share of Mrs Rees' estate has been left to the Wadhurst-based Celia Hammond Animal Trust.

Mrs Hammond gave up a successful modelling career in the Seventies to devote her time to animal welfare.

The trust based in High Street, Wadhurst, operates an animal rescue service, provides refuge for feral cats and kittens and investigates complaints of cruelty.

However, it has become renowned for its low-cost neutering to prevent the large number of stray animals, of which Mrs Rees was an ardent supporter.

The trust's administrator Roma Brawn said: "Betty strongly believed in neutering to prevent the rising number of stray animals.

"She learned of our work in low-cost neutering about five years ago and had been a supporter of us ever since.

"She would often phone us up for chats and talk about cats.

"She and her husband were very nice, sensible people who were extremely down to earth.

"I had absolutely no idea she had such huge wealth.

"I had heard her husband dealt a bit in property but money wasn't a topic of conversation when she rang us.

"All she wanted to talk about was animals.

"We're absolutely delighted to hear we're to get some money but obviously deeply upset at her death.

"We exist purely by donations. We don't get any financial help whatsoever. When we find out what the trust will be getting, we can start planning.

"It will mean so much to us.

"We might be able to make plans for a third neutering clinic but we'll have to make sure what we do is what Betty would have wanted."