A POPULAR mobile hairdresser known for her array of flamboyant hairstyles has died just a day after being diagnosed with a rare lung condition.

Tributes to Susan Miller, of Braintree, include one from comedian Brian Conley and a video documenting her many hairstyles, put together by son Ben Miller.

Mrs Miller, 64, was taken to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, by ambulance on December 27 after feeling unwell.

She was only diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis – a condition affecting just 5,000 people in the UK each year – on New Year’s Day, and died the following day.

Son Ben, 33, of Mountbatten Road, Braintree, said: “She had a lot of crazy hairstyles over the years and would put Lady Gaga to shame.

“My best and most fondest recent memory of my mum would be when we celebrated her 60th birthday – not that she wanted anyone to know that.

“I contacted some of her friends and we went for a meal at the Compasses in Pattiswick.

“She was never a party animal but liked going out for meals – as long as a double whisky was involved.

“It was nice to see her enjoying life with me and her friends. I will miss that.”

Mr Miller received a message on Twitter from comedian Brian Conley, which said: “I am so sorry to hear about your mum, my deepest sympathy goes out to you and your family. She was a lovely lady x.”

Mr Miller said: “We saw him when he used to go around all the different Butlins doing his shows, then we used go to his musicals, and TV shows.

“He saw that we were there by the back door mostly every time and always used to ask us into his dressing room for a chat.”

Mrs Miller attended Chapel Hill Primary School and Braintree County High School, where she passed GCSEs in French, English and history.

As a teenager, she would often visit the Continental coffee bar in Sandpit Lane, Silver End Hotel, and Crittalls Club.

Aged 16, Mrs Miller was apprenticed to Carole Millers Hairdressers in Fairfield Road and attended L’Oreal School in London.

After her apprenticeship she spent a short time at Courtaulds but left to work at a salon in Coggeshall, and then La Renns in Braintree High Street.

Mrs Miller married Keith in September 1976 at St Michael’s Church in Braintree.

In the eulogy, Keith, 62, said: “She will be so very much missed by us and many others whose lives she touched.

“Most people knew her as Sue, of course, but some younger ones today as Sue snip snip.”

The family has set up a donation page for Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis. Visit just giving.com/SueMFibrosis See the video at braintreeand withamtimes.co.uk