A PENSIONER who was the victim of a mugging that shocked Burnley has died just five weeks later.

Ora Walton, 84, who had her purse containing her £136.71 pension stolen after leaving the post office in Todmorden Road on October 18, died on Sunday.

It is believed she died in her sleep in a chair and was found by her 87-year-old sister Amy Parkinson at their home in Burnley Wood.

Yesterday, tributes were paid to Ora, who once worked as a weaver in a cotton mill and had lived in Burnley all her life.

Coun Karen Heseltine said: “I only saw her on Saturday with her shopping coming up Finsley Gate.

“She was a lovely person, a week after her incident a lady fell over at the bottom of Parliament Street and I went to help.

"Ora then arrived and was offering to help her, so soon after what she had been through.

“I think she was still in quite a lot of pain from the mugging, but she didn’t show it. She had a will and a determination that people these days don’t have.

“She was a happy-go-lucky person. You would always see her in the area and she was always friendly and talkative.

"She was part of the fixtures and fittings of Burnley Wood.

“She’d become like a celebrity since the mugging. The community did so much for her and people were still coming up to her and giving her tenners.

"Everybody felt so much for her.”

During the past 50 years she has lived in the Brunshaw and Burnley Wood areas with her widowed sister Amy.

Coun Jeff Sumner said: “It is very sad. Everybody is shocked. It is a real shame and our condolences go to her sister. It is a very difficult time for her.”

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “A post-mortem is still to take place and the death will then go before the coroner.

“We will only get involved if the coroner decides to pass it back to us.”

Michael Brooks, 58, of Reed Street, Burnley, admitted robbery at Burnley Magistrates’ Court and is awaiting sentence.