Nicky Campbell pays tribute to 'wonderful mum'

Nicky Campbell, pictured with his mother Sheila: "She was my adoptive mum. She was my real mum"

BBC Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell has written a heartfelt tribute to his "wonderful" mother Sheila, who has died at the age of 96.

Along with her husband, Frank Campbell, she adopted Nicky as a four-day-old baby in 1961.

Sheila Campbell, a World War Two radar operator who became a social worker, was part of Nicky's 2007 episode of BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are?

She also spoke about being a radar operator on BBC Radio 5 Live in June.

"The day she and Dad adopted me was the day I won the lottery," he tweeted.

Campbell, who missed presenting Thursday's edition of 5 Live Breakfast, added that Sheila "doted on her grandchildren and my girls completely adored her. Everyone did".

His co-host Rachel Burden choked up as she prepared to read out the statement before handing over to her co-host Geoff Lloyd.

Burden then added: "I knew her in the course of my friendship with Nicky developing over the years. She was an incredible woman and I feel really, really privileged to have known her.

"Nicky will be back at work tomorrow because, as he says, his mum would have said, 'Of course you should be working, it's the general election results day.'

"So he will be here tomorrow. And we just all want to send all our thoughts on to Nicky and the girls and Tina and all his family today. You're very, very much in our thoughts."

Earlier this year, Sheila spoke to Campbell on 5 Live Breakfast to talk about her role in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War Two. She was presented with a medal of service for her work in 2017.

Stationed at Beachy Head, she helped to guide RAF planes to their targets during the D-Day campaign.

She was proud to have played a part in the invasion, but said she would spend the 75th anniversary "thinking a lot about the lives that were lost on the beaches, and at that time".

'So proud' of his family

Who Do You Think You Are? saw Campbell investigate the roots of his Scottish family, especially his adoptive father Frank, who died in 1996.

He discovered more about his father's time serving with the Indian army during World War Two - fighting Japanese troops in what has come to be known as "the forgotten war" - and had some shocking revelations about his grandfather's childhood.

Summing up the experience, he said: "I'm so proud of this extraordinary family I was adopted into. All the stories I've heard somehow all contributed to making my dad the most wonderful dad that I could have had.

"It couldn't have been for me more fascinating, revealing and enlightening. A family of which I am so proud and a dad of which I'm so proud. I just wish he were here to share it."