A Bradford mother slipped and fell to her death on a picturesque Scottish island in a freak accident while trying to find a frisbee.

Pam Pounds plunged more than 20ft down a ravine on the Isle of Arran while trying to spot the frisbee that she had thrown for her pet dog Chance.

The 53-year-old was later found by her son Steven lying near a stream close to the small town of Lamlash, where she had been holidaying.

Keen walker Mrs Pounds, of Heaton, had taken the Border Collie out for a walk in the woods, but the dog returned without her sparking her anxious son to search for his mother.

Her daughter Sally said Steven, 26, had gone in search of his mother to find her lying near a stream at the bottom of a crevasse.

"She had thrown a frisbee for the dog," said Sally, who is staying in Scotland until her mother's body is returned to Bradford. "She probably went to see how far down it had gone and slipped. It took Steven about two hours to find her.

"It's just amazing how many people will miss her. She wouldn't have believed it if she knew how many people were ringing. She was wonderful and was there for everybody."

Just two weeks before, Mrs Pounds had bought 29-year-old Sally her bridal gown for her wedding to fiance Martin next June.

"I'm just so glad she did as at least she's seen me in the dress," said Sally. "She was so excited about the wedding.

"The one consolation was we have been able to see where it happened. It was quiet and peaceful - the birds were singing and there was nobody about. We threw some flowers on the spot."

A lifelong member of and deacon of Heaton Baptist Church, Mrs Pounds enjoyed singing for operatic groups such as the Bradford Players and performed with the Bradford Choral Society. She was also a keen bird watcher and enjoyed training dogs.

Colleagues at Bradford Royal Infirmary, where Mrs Pounds worked as a casualty secretary for more than ten years, said they were devastated at the news.

A spokesperson for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust said that Mrs Pounds had been the backbone of support for the Accident & Emergency Department.

He said: "Her untimely death has robbed Bradford's hospitals in general, and the A&E department in particular, of a first class secretary who was held in the highest esteem by everyone who knew her. Despite the pressures of her job, she had a smile for everybody."

Pat Hirst, a medical secretary who had worked with Mrs Pounds for four years, said: "She was a good friend and colleague. We are all devastated and she'll be sadly missed. We were both casualty secretaries - Pat and Pam. We were like a double act. I was extremely fond of her."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde police yesterday (July 3) said that a post-mortem examination into the cause of Mrs Pound's death was due to carried out but that the circumstances were not believed to be suspicious.

Anybody who would like to know about funeral arrangements should contact Edwin Pounds & Son on (01274) 613155.