Mayor George Stamov said: “She was a sociable woman who learned the
language and joined in folk dancing.”

Shipstone’s ex-wife Mandy Shipstone, 44, said from her home in Bulwell,
Nottingham: “We split up 18 years ago and I haven’t seen or heard
anything from him for 10 years, even though we had two daughters together.

“I heard he spent time in Portugal before he moved to Bulgaria. I have no
idea what he does out there. While we were together, he was an auto
electrician.

“After we split, I heard he was a bus driver for a while, and then drove
lorries.

“We were only married for four years before he left me. I needed
maintenance from him for the children, but the Child Support Agency were
never able to find him. My daughters are 20 and 18 now so it’s a bit late
for any money now.”