Despite being beaten black and blue on two occasions and robbed on another, determined 79-year-old Dorothy Barclay refused to be cowed and insisted on taking her daily walk along the streets of Paston to her local shops.

Widowed Dorothy, who was known to everyone in the Sheepwalk area as Dot – and to local children as Socks because of her love of wearing ankle socks – was still getting over having a finger broken by a vicious attacker when she decided to take herself off on holiday last week.

It had been a bad year for her. First she struggled with a mugger who stole the meagre contents of her handbag, then she became a victim of the man known as the Ride By Robber who came up behind her on a bike and grabbed her bag. When she would not let go and clung onto her bag he smashed her in the face breaking a bone in her jaw and giving her black eyes. She was still recovering when she was mugged again close to her Sheepwalk home. Her finger was broken as she fought the man who took her bag.

In an attempt to put it behind her, Dot caught a bus and went to Skegness where she had spent many happy times with her family in the past, but while there she collapsed and died after suffering a stroke.

Today her son-in-law Nigel Prime (55) said: "We can't say the mugging caused her death but she was an old lady and after being hit over the head and knocked to the ground, who can tell what internal damage could have been done.

"We could see her self-confidence had gone, but you couldn't tell how much she was physically and mentally affected by the attacks.

"We kept warning her about the dangers today but she was stuck in the '30s when times were different and she could never see any wrong in anyone.

"Dorothy loved helping people and loved galavanting on buses around the city and further afield."

Today, board member of Paston Area Community Trust (PACT), Vicky Mclellan said there is a feeling in the community that Dot's fighting spirit should be celebrated.

She said: "Everyone knew Dot, so the news has shocked us all. We were just trying to get a sense of community spirit going when we were all rocked by these muggings.

"But, Dot wasn't going to give up, she just kept picking herself back up and going about her life. She wasn't going to let the muggers win.

"Her courage is an inspiration to everyone and we can't let these people win, that's why there is a suggestion that we award Dot a posthumous community bravery award."

A date has yet to be set for Dot's funeral.