FOR 17 years, Cissy Broome's ashes sat in a garden shed as her family tried to fulfil her dying wish.

Brighton's West Pier had played a huge part in Cissy's life, and shortly before her death she told relatives she wished her ashes could be scatted from the famous structure.

At the time, it seemed an unlikely request.

The crumbling pier had been closed to the public and Cissy's family appeared to have little chance of carrying out her final plea.

But yesterday, on what would have been Cissy's 100th birthday, family members gathered on the pier after her nephew Louis Maule-Cole was told the ceremony could finally go ahead.

Work carried out on the pier meant meant the structure was now safe to walk on to.

Louis gave a speech paying tribute to his aunt's life before emptying an urn into the sea below.

Cissy, who lived in Eaton Road, Hove, ran the West Pier's bathing station during the Fifties. She was a keen swimmer who regularly competed in races between the town's two piers.

Louis, 67, said: "We've been hoping to do this ever since she died, but it was a problem getting the whole family together and there were problems getting on to the building.

"But we finally agreed to do it on her 100th birthday, and she would have been tickled pink to see us now."

Louis, of St Catherine's Road, Crawley, was joined by Peter Marsh, of Lower Beeding, who had looked after Cissy's ashes.

He said: "I did keep the urn in my house but my wife felt a bit nervous with them there, especially when she was alone at night.

"In the end I had to keep them in the garden shed where they were looked after by my cat, Lucy, who lives there.

"We would have liked to bring the cat down but there was no safety equipment for her to go on the pier."

Peter, 72, of Manor Road, met Cissy when he worked at a fishing tackle shop on the pier.

Cissy's great niece, Sally Harrison, flew from her home near Malaga, Spain, to attend the ceremony.

She said: "I've just come back for one day - she was my great aunt and this was a promise I always intended to keep. This was something she always wanted as she spent so much of her life on the pier."

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