CARING Inez Gavin died as she had lived -- helping others.

The devoted mother and keen biker, 40, collapsed without warning from a brain haemorrhage as she lent a hand to a neighbour repairing his scooter.

The generous gesture was totally in keeping with Miss Gavin's warm character which so touched the hearts of those who knew her.

Dozens of condolence cards from well-wishers at the Smithills home she shared with her partner of eight years Kevin Cummings and her three children pay testament to her popularity.

Miss Gavin had spent much of her working life caring for others, latterly as an auxilliary nurse working at Beaumont Hospital, Fallbirch Hospital, and with elderly people in their homes.

Mr Cummings said: "She loved the job and the people she met and they loved her. They just couldn't help themselves."

"Inez would do everything for anybody. She always put everyone before herself, especially the children and me. She always had time to listen and would never send anybody away."

Touchingly, some of the cards were even from people Miss Gavin had encountered during a part time job as a door-to-door cosmetic saleswoman.

Mr Cummings said: "Inez could speak to people and when she went away they felt like they had known her for years. They could tell her anything and she would give them a straight answer."

The most important thing in her life was her children, Aaron, 14, Callum, eight, both from an earlier marriage, and Rhiannon, six.

But Mr Cummings jokingly refers to her beloved Suzuki GS750 motorbike as her "other baby."

She enjoyed nothing more than riding her bike and socialising with fellow enthusiasts and was also a much-loved regular at the Weaver's Arms pub in Halliwell.

There Miss Gavin was an active member of the social club involved in organising charity events such as children's fun days.

She made many friends among parents in the Smithills area whose children she would babysit for.

Born in Urmston, near Eccles, she was brought up in Salford and started work at a sandwich shop in Trafford Park when she left school at 15. After marrying, she moved to Arnold Street, Brownlow Fold, and gained a job as a cook at Burnthwaite children's home in Lostock.

She was so well liked by children there that years later many would still greet her when they saw her in town.

From there she was employed as a domestic in the former Townley's Hospital, now part of the Royal Bolton Hospital, before joining the nursing agency.

Miss Gavin's funeral will be held tomorrow at 11.15am at St Peter's Church, Halliwell.