A PAIGNTON pensioner has left hundreds of thousands of pounds of her £1.7million fortune to local charities including Rowcroft Hospice and Paignton Zoo.

Widower Joyce Pemberton, 88, died on July 4, 2007, at her Marine Drive home.

Joyce's step-son Bob Brewis, 67, from Manor Road, Paignton, said he was delighted she was able to make substantial contributions of £250,000 to Rowcroft Hospice and £100,000 each to Paignton Zoo and South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.

Mr Brewis said: "We are delighted they have received that money.

"She loved Paignton Zoo and she had an owl there. She loved birds and wildlife and was always walking.

"Her great love was to walk in nature."

Giles Charnaud, chief executive of Rowcroft Hospice, said: "We understand we are one of a number of charities which Mrs Pemberton left money to, for which we are incredibly grateful.

"Given the financial climate, this kind of donation will help us to maintain the important services we offer."

Paignton Zoo spokesman Phillip Knowling said: "This sort of amount can make an amazing difference to us, for our work at home and abroad."

Mrs Pemberton left £50,000 each to MIND, The Donkey Sanctuary, Battersea Dogs Home and the British Red Cross Society.

She also left £25,000 each to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, World Wildlife Fund UK and Cancer Research UK.

Shares in her estate were also left to the Royal National Institute for the Blind, Salvation Army, Barnado's, the RSPB, Cancer Research UK and WWF UK.

Her friends and family did not know how much she was worth, but her first husband George Turner had run a shoe empire in Leicester and left her with a substantial estate.

Mrs Pemberton moved to South Devon with Mr Turner in 1941 and worked as a voluntary clerk on Forest Ward at Torbay Hospital.

After Mr Turner's death, she met and married Ken Pemberton in 1974. He died more than 25 years ago, but she remained close to his step-son Mr Brewis and she became an honorary grandmother to his three daughters.