Friends and band-mates have rushed to pay tribute to popular singer Dottaye Green, the Diva of Twickenham, who died of cancer this month.

The singer, who would regularly appear for jam sessions at the George and the Red Lion, died on October 8, aged 59.

Dottaye would also frequently appear at street parties and the Twickenham Riverside festival, as well as singing in several bands.

She lived in Gladstone Avenue with her husband Stuart Hiern-Cooke, 60, who described her as "very bubbly".

He said: "You would find that anyone who met her would like her instantly.

"She had this bewitching quality about her - it certainly worked on me - and a certain way about her that people loved."

The couple met in the Hare and Hounds pub, Osterley, in 1987 before wedding in 1992 and spending their married life together in Twickenham.

Although they never had any children together, Mr Hiern-Cooke talks fondly about Dottaye's love for felines.

Richmond and Twickenham Times:

He said: "She absolutely loved cats, she really was a cat-lover. I think the best way to describe her would be as a bundle of energy."

As well as her singing, having been born into a musical family from Liverpool, Dottaye also worked as an administrator at Richmond College.

She idolised Aretha Franklin and worked with the likes of TC Curtis and Mark Fisher, enjoying chart success in 1996 with a cover version of Oasis hit Some Might Say.

Mark Wyatt said Dottaye first joined his band, Empire State Band, in 1993 and they went on to play more than 500 shows together.

He said: "It was always great fun to be on stage with Dotts.

"She was a wonderful show off and liked to tease and have fun with the audience - she seemed to get away with any antics she tried."

She also sang with dance band Royal Scam and was friends with Stevie Wonder , who would phone her whenever he was in town.

Singer Rowena Poole will always remember Dottaye for discovering her and nurturing her, claiming she could not have done it without the Diva of Twickenham, as some nicknamed her.

Ms Poole said: "I started out at 17 having just come out of school with no experience and she believed in me - it is all thanks to her.

"She was such a bubbly person to be around."