Family, friends and colleagues of a woman who worked tirelessly to help hundreds of rape victims in Norfolk gathered yesterday to plant a tree in her honour.

Family, friends and colleagues of a woman who worked tirelessly to help hundreds of rape victims in Norfolk gathered yesterday to plant a tree in her honour.

Susan Cooper, who lost her battle to cancer in December at the age of 70, was a respected counsellor for Rape Crisis and MPower, which have now combined into the Sexual Violence Alliance (Seva).

The organisation held the planting ceremony at 9.30am on Gentleman's Walk in Norwich in her memory.

A spokesman said: "She worked tirelessly across the county and beyond, providing support and counselling to rape victims and survivors of sexual abuse, as well as being a good friend and mentor to her fellow colleagues.

"She spent many years contributing her specialist skills as a tutor and counsellor and influenced the development of quality counselling services."

Mrs Cooper, who retrained as a counsellor after retiring from teaching at the age of 55, was the clinical supervisor for volunteers for both Rape Crisis and MPower.

The tree, planted by Norwich MP Ian Gibson in Susan's memory, is a London plane.

Anybody who would like to make a donation in memory of Mrs Cooper should send it to Norwich Rape Crisis Resource Centre, 14 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1RY, or call 01603 667687.