A family have paid tribute to a 'strong, intelligent and bubbly' mum-of-two who passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

Journalist Dawn Hopley, 54, from Kingsnorth, co-founded and ran Bubbles Publishing Ltd with her husband John.

The pair launched Creative Steps, a children’s craft magazine, and ran their publishing business from home for 10 years.

But despite receiving the all-clear from doctors last summer, Dawn sadly lost her battle with breast cancer on Monday, October 5.

John, 52, said: "We were convinced we were going to beat it. She was diagnosed two years ago and given the all-clear last summer, but there was still some concern it hadn’t gone.

"She had three bouts of chemotherapy in 18 months that knocked her for six, although she carried on working. Up until the last month we were still working on the theory that the symptoms she was showing were as a result of the chemo not the cancer but that was not the case.

"We just kept thinking we were going to beat it because she was such a positive, determined person."

Dawn, who was the first female journalist in the Twickenham press box, had been a reporter for the Windsor, Slough and Eaton Express before entering trade publishing.

She worked for publishers Patey Doyle, where she met John at a Christmas party in 1986.

The pair married, moved to Ashford in 1996 and have two sons Cameron, 16, and Leo, 13.

Dawn was a governor at Willesborough Junior School, a member of Ashford Community Choir and part of a book club.

John said: "There’s such a huge list of things that I will miss about her I wouldn’t know where to begin.

"She liked to sing, she enjoyed reading, she loved travelling. She was a very determined and positive mother as much as anything.

"She was determined that we would give the boys everything we could, and that’s why she kept fighting. We will keep going with the magazine to make sure her legacy lives on.”

The funeral was held last Thursday at St Mary’s Church in Willesborough which John said was a 'celebration of her life'.

Mourners were asked to donate to Pilgrims Hospice, who looked after Dawn in her last few weeks.

To find ways to donate visit www.pilgrimshospices.org.