A MALVERN Wells animal lover has left a large amount of her £780,000 estate to animal charities.

Margaret Joan Large died aged 77, on August 21 last year, 18 months after burying her beloved cat Felix, who was laid to rest in a handmade coffin.

Miss Large, of King Edward's Road, was a nature lover and member of Malvern Field Club.

"She was a sweet lady, a bit eccentric but very sweet," said Lorraine Etheridge, of funeral directors F W Spilsbury, which made the coffin for the cat.

"We held the funeral service for Felix in Miss Large's garden. It was all done properly and was very nice. It meant so much to her that it had to be taken seriously.

Miss Large left £75,000 to the League Against Cruel Sports, and a minimum of £10,000 each to the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, the PDSA, the RSPCA, RSPB, and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

She also left money to the International Donkey Protection Trust, various horse and other animal sanctuaries across the country, Oxfam, the Bible Society and various missions.