Coronavirus: Bill and Mary Dartnall die on same day

A husband and wife who died on the same day after more than 60 years together were "special people", their family has said.

Bill Dartnall, 90, died hours after his wife Mary, 81, at Southampton General Hospital on Easter Sunday. Both had tested positive for coronavirus.

Their daughter Rosemary said her father had declined further oxygen treatment after learning of his wife's death.

She added he "didn't want to be here without Mum".

The couple, who had been married for 63 years, had been living in a temporary care home at the Holiday Inn hotel in Southampton when Mrs Dartnall was taken ill and brought into hospital at the end of March.

Mr Dartnall suffered a stroke and was admitted to hospital days later where he also tested positive for coronavirus.

After Mrs Dartnall died on Easter Sunday, Rosemary said her father, who was in the same ward, refused to wear an oxygen mask and died peacefully several hours later.

"They came as a pair - my dad would be certain he wouldn't want to be about without Mum," Ms Dartnall said.

"They were a team. Life wasn't always a bed of roses but they got through it together and they left us together.

"It's horrible enough to lose your parents, but being separated and not being able to be with them and hold their hands at the end of their lives has been very hard."

Ms Dartnall said her parents were "enterprising, hardworking and always did things a bit differently".

"They were quite special people. They worked extremely hard throughout their lives and were blessed with a can-do attitude to life," she added.

Her sister Ann said her parents set up a chimney sweeping business after Mr Dartnall stopped working on banana boats to South Africa.

She described her father as a "practical genius".

"He was the go-to chimney sweep in Southampton - if you had a chimney that no-one else could sweep, he could do it."

The couple later developed a passion for beekeeping with Mrs Dartnall going on to become president of the British Beekeepers Association, campaigning for farmers to limit chemical spraying to protect bees.

The sisters are planning a memorial for their parents to "celebrate their lives properly" after the lockdown restrictions are lifted.