A Colchester businessman has called for more funding for research into brain tumours in memory of his late partner.

On Sunday, Phil Holding met with scientists at the Brain Tumour Research charity's Research Centre of Excellence, where he was given a tour of the Hammersmith Hospital facility.

Earlier this year, Mr Holding lost his partner Debbie Coulson to an aggressive and incurable form of the disease called glioblastoma - she 57-years-old.

Ms Coulson, who was diagnosed in 2017, underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment, but sadly still lost her battle with the disease.

Mr Holding, 51, is managing director of Horizon Construction in Colchester, where Debbie also worked as a personal assistant.

He said: "It was such a shock to learn that there was no cure for Debbie’s glioblastoma brain tumour and that she had a survival prognosis counted in months, not years.

"Another blow was learning how underfunded research into brain tumours is.

"Along with members of Debbie’s family and colleagues from Horizon Construction, I am looking into doing a big fundraising challenge next year for Brain Tumour Research.”

Joined on the tour by Ms Coulson's brother Paul and sister Amanda, the group heard from lead scientist Dr Nelofer Syed about the work taking place at the centre.

They also met Kevin O'Neill, a leading neurosurgeon at Charing Cross Hospital in London, who told them how the charity's vital research was being translated into new surgical tools like the iKnife, which can differentiate between tumour and normal brain cells during surgery.

Paula Rastrick, community fundraising manager for Brain Tumour Research in the region, said: “We are extremely grateful to Phil for helping to raise awareness about the research taking place at our dedicated Centres of Excellence.

"It’s fitting that he should meet with scientists at Imperial College and see how Horizon Construction’s fundraising can support research in Debbie’s memory.

“In addition to funding sustainable research at our centres, we are also campaigning for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.

"We’re calling for an annual spend of £35m in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other form of cancer but receive less than 1 per cent of research funding.

Donate at www.braintumourresearch.org/donation.