MAUREEN Greig, chairman of the Thanet Cancer Care Appeal, has been found dead in the indoor swimming pool of her home at Kingsgate, near Margate.

Police say her body was discovered face down in the water after a neighbour raised the alarm. Mrs Greig, 76, was awarded an MBE in January 1999 for services to the community and was also well known as a former JP.

Shortly before her death, Mrs Greig presented the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, with a £500,000 donation for the construction of the cancer day care unit. The money was the total that had been generated by the public appeal in the last decade from high profile events like the Quex Proms and a celebrity golf match between Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo

Mrs Greig, whose family owned the chain of David Greig grocery stores, was a leading campaigner in the TEAR appeal to provide 24-hour accident and emergency cover for Thanet, and she was a supporter of the campaign to retain district general hospital status for the area.

A police spokesman said: “There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death."