Doris Hobday: Identical twin's tribute to 'my best friend'

A 96-year-old woman has paid tribute to her identical twin and "best friend" who died from coronavirus.

Doris Hobday and Lilian Cox, known as the Tipton Twins, were admitted to hospital after testing positive earlier this month.

Mrs Hobday died on 5 January, while Mrs Cox was discharged from hospital.

Mrs Cox said it had been a "very sad week" but she was "forever grateful" to have "created so many special memories" with her twin.

Lilian Cox said she had been "so lucky" to have known her sister Doris Hobday as "she was my best friend"

"I feel so lucky to have had her by my side for 96 years, she was not just my sister she was my best friend, we created so many special memories which will stay with me and for that I am forever grateful," she said.

The siblings, from Tipton, West Midlands, were among the UK's oldest living twins and became popular figures online due to their positive outlook on life and sense of humour.

They appeared on BBC Breakfast, ITV's Good Morning Britain and This Morning, charming presenters with jokes about wearing their drawers inside out and their love for actor Jason Statham.

Mrs Cox thanked people for their support and messages this week and said Sunday had been the first day she had wanted to get dressed since being discharged from hospital.

"Covid has definitely been the biggest fight of my life but each day I am feeling stronger and I am slowly starting to feel like me again."

Doris will be buried next to her husband Ray, who, along with half a Guinness, was "her favourite thing"

The twins lived on the same street after getting married, worked together at an ale-making factory in Birmingham and more recently lived next to one another at sheltered accommodation in Tipton.

Speaking to the BBC on their 95th birthday, Lilian revealed her sister's secret to a long life was "no sex and plenty of Guinness" - her own being simply "lemonade".

A crowdfunding page set up in Mrs Hobday's memory has raised more than £3,500 towards The Beacon Centre for the Blind.