Artist Cook left £889,000 in will

Cook left most of money to her family

Artist Beryl Cook, known for her colourful and comic paintings of larger-than-life women, left more than £889,000 in her will.

The former seaside landlady from Plymouth in Devon, died in May aged 81.

The bulk of the money was left to her retired seaman husband John and their 57-year-old son, also called John.

Cook, whose paintings sold up for up to £70,000 each, also left money to her two grandchildren and various charities.

She had no formal training and did not take up painting until her 40s, but her work went on to become hugely popular.

Born in Surrey in 1926, she had lived in Plymouth for more than 25 years.

The University of Plymouth will be showing a major retrospective of Beryl Cook's work in November.