Olive Cooke death: Grandmother was 'fun-loving' person

Mrs Cooke sold poppies for the Royal British Legion in the entrance to Bristol Cathedral

The granddaughter of a 92-year-old poppy seller who was found dead in the Avon Gorge said she wanted her remembered as a "fun-loving person".

Olive Cooke was one of the UK's longest-serving poppy sellers and had collected money in Bristol for the Royal British Legion for 76 years.

Media coverage of her death focussed on suggestions she had been overwhelmed by junk mail from charities.

But Jessica Dunne said Mrs Cooke was "not a victim".

She said: "I know the letters were a nuisance and an irritation and very intrusive to her, but it wasn't the reason [she died].

"In the letter that she left the family there was no mention of the letters being a causative factor, and there is no blame on the charities.

"She wouldn't have wanted this backlash."

Miss Dunne said her grandmother's death came as a "shock" to the family, but she had faced "episodes of depression at particular points in her life" and it had "got worse as she got older".

'Under pressure'

Avon Coroner's Court heard that Mrs Cooke was pronounced dead at 18:20 BST on 6 May by a paramedic and was formally identified by her grandson.

An inquest into her death was opened and adjourned until 16 July.

She had complained to the Bristol Post last year about the amount of requests for donations she was receiving.

A friend told the BBC that while he would not blame her death entirely on charities "pestering" her, she had been "under pressure".

Mrs Cooke, from Fishponds, started selling poppies at the age of 16 as her father was an active Royal British Legion member having served in World War One.

She said it took on new meaning for her when her first husband was killed in action in World War Two.