A mother has paid tribute to her 'funny, generous and caring' son who died from a brain tumour.

Simon Huxtable, 43, passed away on Saturday, December 29 and his family is determined to raise money to fund research into the condition which claimed his life.

Mr Huxtable, who lived in Lavengro Road, near Mousehold, grew up in Wymondham and attended Robert Kett School and Wymondham High School.

He was first diagnosed with a brain tumour on March 31, 2010.

His mother, Val Nicholaou, 64, who lives in Queensway, Wymondham, said: 'His speech was strange and he couldn't remember his PIN number. He got worse and we took him to the doctor who sent him to hospital.

'It affected him in a way that he couldn't read or write very well.'

The tumour was removed on April 14 at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridgeshire and Mr Huxtable returned to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he had chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

He was given the all-clear but doctors told the family that there was a 90pc chance of the tumour returning within five years.

In October 2012 Mr Huxtable became unwell again and doctors told him that the aggressive tumour had returned.

He went back to Addenbrooke's Hospital where surgeons removed as much of the tumour as possible.

He was discharged from the hospital on November 11 and on December 20 was admitted to Ogden Court Community Hospital in Wymondham where he died nine days later.

Mr Huxtable, who worked as a salesman for British Gas, had two children James, 14 and Emily, 12.

He had a sister, Becky, and two nephews, Ashton, four, and Kai, three.

Now Mr Huxtable's family is determined to increase awareness of the condition by raising money for Brain Tumour Research.

'Simon always said when he got better he was going to raise some money for them,' Ms Nicholaou said.

'The more money we can raise for them, the more chance people will have of recovering.

'The chance of people surviving has not changed in 40 years and 20pc of cancers go to the brain. It's frightening.'

Ms Nicholaou added: 'We found that there was a lack of understanding for people with brain tumours. Just because someone can't speak properly, it doesn't mean that they are stupid.'

A funeral service will be held at Wymondham Abbey on Friday, January 18 at 10am.