Fisherman's Friend: Calls for memorial to Doreen Lofthouse

Doreen Lofthouse was a "true pioneer" who helped "put Fleetwood on the map"

Calls have been made for a memorial to honour Fisherman's Friend tycoon Doreen Lofthouse in her hometown in Fleetwood.

The businesswoman, who grew the cough sweets from a small firm into a global brand, died aged 91 on Wednesday.

Since her death, many have called for a permanent tribute to the Lancashire philanthropist, whose generosity had helped "transform Fleetwood".

Wyre council said it would consider "various options on how we can best mark what she has done for Fleetwood".

A spokesman said any decision would be taken with the family's consent.

Margaret Daniels, chairman of Fleetwood Civic Society, is among those wanting to mark Mrs Lofthouse's life and career.

"She was a remarkable woman. She was well liked and well loved in Fleetwood," she said.

"You just need to look at all the responses on Facebook to see the amount of people who would like to see something to remember her by and recognise what she did."

Over the past 30 years, Mrs Lofthouse and her family have given tens of millions of pounds to fund community projects in the town, including the recent restoration of The Mount.

The Lofthouse family started selling the fiery lozenges to local shops more than 150 years ago

Fisherman's Friend lozenges were originally developed by pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems commonly suffered by fishermen.

For the next 100 years, they were virtually unknown outside the fishing community.

But thanks to the entrepreneurial skills of Mrs Lofthouse, who married James's grandson Tony, the cough sweet is now available in 120 countries, netting the company annual revenues of more than £55m.

The lozenge's shape was based on the design of the buttons on one of the dresses she used to wear to the office.