A moving tribute will be read out by the leader of Gloucester City Council to a woman who "absolutely gave her all" for the city she loved.

Speaking to cabinet this afternoon Paul James will pick up on a message passed to his colleagues from Duncan Hall, chairman of Gloucester Conservatives, who broke the news this morning that councillor Lise Noakes had died.

Mr James will say...

"I am very sorry to have to relay the news that Councillor Lise Noakes passed away at 8:15pm yesterday (May 19).

"The will be a hard act to follow both as a friend, a councillor and activist. I know that her family will be in our thoughts at this difficult time," said Mr Hall.

Mr James, who worked with Cllr Noakes and knew her well, will pay tribute to his colleague and friend, who leaves behind two children and a husband.

Mr James gave Punchline-Gloucester.com permission to use his words.

"I am very sad indeed to have to inform council that councillor Lise Noakes passed away last night at 8.15pm.

"Members will be aware that only a few weeks ago she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which she has fought bravely, but I am sure we are all greatly shocked at the speed with which it took her life.

"I have this morning spoken to her husband, Keith, who informs me she died peacefully.

"I know our thoughts and prayers will be with Keith, her daughter Alex, son Nick and the rest of the family.

"Lise served on this council for almost 20 years in total and I don't think anyone could have doubted her passion for the city, for her portfolio and her commitment to the people she represented.

"Lise was first elected in 1990 as councillor Marshall, representing the Hucclecote ward, and for a time was the group's housing spokesman. After a 10-year break, she was elected in 2004 to serve the Barnwood ward and has served continuously ever since.

"Lise served as cabinet member for culture and leisure for the last four years. I created this portfolio because I knew of her passion for it. She achieved a great deal in this area and I will come on to talk about that later on.

"She also served as mayor, sheriff, cabinet member for performance and resources and chair of licensing committee. In each and every position she held, she absolutely gave her all.

"On a personal note, I knew Lise for almost 30 years and in addition to working with her on this council, she was my constituency chairman when I fought the general election in 2001 and was always a good friend and great support to me.

"It is clearly too early to talk about funeral arrangements, but we will of course update members as soon as we become aware of any details.

"Lise had planned to address council today if she was well enough, to set out what she felt the key achievements were within her portfolio as I know she was rightly proud of them.

"With your consent Madam Mayor, I would like to share with council the speech Lise would have delivered. "

"I know Lise will be greatly missed by members from all sides of the chamber, by the council officers she worked with, by people from the many partner organisations that she built relationships with and of course by her family and many friends.

"I know from my own conversations with Lise after she was given news of her condition that she wanted to leave a legacy for the city. I believe she has done that and it will be for all of us in this chamber to build upon it."

Punchline editor Mark Owen said: "This is extremely sad news - not just for the family, but also for the city of Gloucester which has lost one of its champions. She was someone who put her heart into what she did and truly believed in Gloucester."