Tributes have poured in for Ann Lye a former chairman of Trowbridge Town Council Chairman who died in Wales on Sunday.

A member of the former Social Democratic Party, Ms Lye, 72, who died in Ystrad Mynach Hospital, in Caerphilly, moved to Bradford on Avon in 1986 from Cardiff, following the end of her first marriage.

She moved to Trowbridge in 1987, meeting her second husband Andrew Lye, who was also a chairman of the town council, a position equivalent to mayor.
She served on the town council from 1990 until 2001 while she was also a Wiltshire County Councillor and a West Wiltshire District Councillor for periods in that time.

Iain Bremner, of the south west Liberal Democrats, said: “I met Ann some time in the 1980s before the merger of the Social Democratic Party and the Liberals. She then joined the new party and was very active within it when it formed.

“She was very involved in the party, perhaps a little controversial at times, but everyone is when they are politically active. She was a very valued member and both Ann and Andrew were much missed when they moved away in 2001 and we are sad to hear of her premature death.”

The mother of three was a founder member of the town’s Action on Homelessness charity, in the 1990s, and worked hard to support those who the organisation helped.

Mr Lye, who moved to Pembrokeshire with Ms Lye when they left Trowbridge in 2001, said: “She was always very proud of her work with Action on Homlessness. She was also very proud of her involvement with saving the Lambrok Playing Fields, about 20-years-ago, which were proposed to be built on.

“A compromise saved a large part for community use and part was built on.”
The couple divorced around five-years-ago and Ms Lye moved back to Wales after contracting a tumour in her left eye which resulted in it her eye being removed around three-years-ago.

The grandmother of nine returned to Trowbridge regularly visiting friends and her last visit to the town was in August this year when she enjoyed seeing Trowbridge’s new Civic Centre.

Friend Doreen Thornton, a former Trowbridge Town Council Chairman, said: “I will remember her as a very lively councillor and a good friend of many years.”