The grieving family of a Cumbrian man who lost his brain tumour battle has campaigned at Westminster in his memory.

Audrey Todd and her daughter Vicky Mason attended a reception at Speaker’s House to continue their campaign for increased funding for research into the disease.

It follows the death of 64-year-old Chris Todd in November, two years after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.

He attended the event in London last year along with other families, carers, scientists, charities and politicians.

This year his grieving widow Audrey and daughter Vicky attended without him.

Vicky said: "It was so hard to watch my dad as he was taken away from us bit by bit by this dreadful disease.

"It seems so unfair that he never had the chance to enjoy his well-deserved retirement.

"We miss him so much every day and remain committed to doing all that we can to raise awareness of brain tumours."

The pair attended the reception at Speaker’s House by permission of John Bercow MP, speaker of the House of Commons, who is a patron of Brain Tumour Research.

The family, along with the charity, is urging MPs to reverse the “unacceptable” level of investment into finding a cure and improving treatments for the 60,000 people living with a brain tumour in the UK.

Following her dad’s diagnosis, Vicky set herself a target of raising £10,000 in a year to fund scientific research.

To date, her total stands at just under £19,000.

Chris, who lived in Whitehaven, also left a son Karl, who will run this year’s London Marathon for Brain Tumour Research, and six grandchildren.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, but just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.

Following a petition last year, Brain Tumour Research is now part of the Government’s group to tackle the historic under-funding for research.

To donate to Vicky’s fundraising page, search for vicky-mason2 at www.justgiving.com